


Eva

by Thunderbird83



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Asphyxiation, Attack, Blow Jobs, Depression, Disease, Drama, Dreams and Nightmares, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Illnesses, Oral Sex, Oxygen Deprivation, Penis In Vagina Sex, Psychic Abilities, Repressed Memories, Rescue Missions, Self-Harm, Sex, Space Station Nerva II, Spirits, Unplanned Pregnancy, Vaginal Sex, carrier, emergency surgery, mentions of Clara - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:40:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 108,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29028831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thunderbird83/pseuds/Thunderbird83
Summary: Short stories of Eva and the DoctorA few more minutes passed. The Doctor tried to open the doors but along with no power the Sliders had locked the door as well, trapping him inside. He went and sat down on the console room floor, trying to regulate his breathing but it was no use. Huddling into his jacket more, the Doctor’s breath condensed in the air as he exhaled. “The lightheadedness is getting worse,” he noted to himself. “Eva… I hope you’re… still alive…” his eyes closed and he slumped over on his side.
Relationships: Twelfth Doctor/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

A/N: I wrote some Doctor Who stories a long time ago and if I can ever find the time I will post them up. Some of them were pretty wild; ALL the doctors make an appearance at some point. It starts off with 8, goes to 10, then 4 (I think,,) I like 12 so I thought I’d write a little one shot. 

Everybody ready ‘cause here we go!

The Doctor sighed, twiddling some dials and knobs on the TARDIS console. The circular column rose up and down reassuringly as the time machine gave off its familiar wheezing sound. All was well, the Doctor thought, blinking at the white walls. Well, he amended, almost all was well. 

His companion Eva was down sick. She’d had some problems like all his friends did but hers were a little more complex. She tended to be much more reckless than others, mouthing off to enemies without a thought about how it affected the situation. The Doctor suspected that she didn’t care too much about life in general which suggested a depressive disorder but he’d been hesitant to bring it up with her. Eva was a prickly one; on some topics she could discourse for hours but there were some periods of time when she would stay secluded in her room, probably battling her own inner demons, the Doctor supposed. 

Twenty four hours ago Eva had been sleeping comfortably in her bed after a long day of sitting in the sun and swimming on the tropical planet Cassiopea when she woke up as a sharp and crippling pain assaulted her abdomen. She clutched at her stomach, holding her breath until the pain died down a little bit. Eva thought it stopped but when it came back sharper this time she cried out in pain. 

“D-Doctor!” she called, getting up from bed as more pain hit her and she fell over. “Doctor, help!” 

The Doctor was in the console room when he heard a cry of distress from Eva’s room followed by the call for help. “Eva! I’m coming!” grabbing his screwdriver he sprinted over to her room where he found her on the floor. The Doctor knelt down and drew her into his lap. “What is it, Eva?” 

She glanced up at him, her eyes teared up from the pain. “Stabbing pain in my belly-sharp! Oh god!” she doubled over, crying out again. The Doctor realized that a physical exam would be impossible right then so he ran a scan with the sonic screwdriver. 

The screwdriver’s readout read ACUTE BOWEL OBSTRUCTION, something neither one of them wanted. “I’ll be right back-I’m going to get you something for the pain!” he took off for the hospital wing, her cries echoing in his head, grabbing some very strong drugs and a syringe. Eva was still doubled up in pain when he returned, knelt down, then gave her a few injections. 

“You’ve got a bowel obstruction, Eva, so I’m going to take you to the hospital right away!” the Doctor brought her into the console room where she sat on a bench and waited. Her mind was now too foggy to focus on anything and the pain was still there but not as acute. Eva was unable to speak now, lost in her misery. 

“Come on now, stiff upper lip!” he tried to coax her but Eva didn’t respond to him. The Doctor tried to control his anxiety and the TARDIS itself could sense the urgency of the situation and brought them to a hospital in the year 4500. 

“Come on!” the Doctor picked Eva up and left the TARDIS. 

**  
In the hospital, the Doctor saw a nurse jump up and bring a gurney over to him. “Thank you!” he said with a grunt, lying Eva on it. “Her name’s Eva Barnes and she needs surgery for a bowel obstruction!” Eva lay on the gurney limp and motionless but pain was etched across her face. “I gave her medicine for the pain but that’s a very acute blockage!”

“We’ll take care of her, sir!” the nurse ran a diagnostic scan with something similar to the screwdriver, allowed the Doctor to peck Eva on the cheek goodbye then reluctantly he was separated from her. 

“Good luck,” he muttered, watching the double doors shut behind his friend. “godspeed, Eva.” 

Several hours later the Doctor was dozing off on a couch when he was roused by the surgeon who had just seen Eva go into the recovery room. “Hello, you’re Eva’s-” 

“Husband,” the Doctor responded promptly, knowing that nobody would question the relationship even if it wasn’t true. “how is she?” 

The surgeon sighed. “She had a very complicated blockage which really tested me but in the end we were able to remove it and repair the bowel. Eva had a bit of an issue in there-” 

“What kind of issue?” the Doctor asked sharply. 

“We used a drug she had an allergic reaction to. We reversed her reaction and she’s fine. Eva responded well aside from that mishap, I was able to resect her bowel completely, she’s in recovery now and will be waking up very soon. Do you want to sit with her?” 

“I do.” the surgeon brought him back. Eva looked like a doll of herself, she was very pale but her face wasn’t drawn in pain anymore. The Doctor leaned over her, watching her carefully and seemingly satisfied, he sat down in the chair, grasped his friend’s hand, then waited. 

Two hours later Eva opened up one eye than the other. The Doctor looked up, sensing she was awake, then smiled. “You’re almost awake fully.” 

His companion rolled her eyes, too weak to speak but she tightened her hand around the Doctor’s. He glanced up at the monitors, seeing her vital sign numbers were normal and consistent. A nurse gave Eva an ice pack to put on her incision but Eva was too weak to grasp the heavy object. Annoyed, the Doctor snorted, picked up the ice pack, then draped it onto her incision in way that didn’t cause her any more pain. 

“Doctor..” Eva managed to say. 

He shushed her. “You’re all right. I’m glad we got you in here in time. The surgeon says you’ll be right as rain.” 

“Good..” she tried to smile for him. The Doctor could see she was really trying to stay awake so he rubbed her hand and told her to go back to sleep. 

“You’ll be more alert next time and then I can take you back with me.” he put his hand to the side of her face in an affectionate gesture, his face close to hers.

**

The Doctor had been allowed to take her back to the TARDIS within an hour of her awakening and she was more than happy to go. Eva couldn’t walk of course but her friend had picked her up like she was made of glass, stepping into the TARDIS with his friend’s head leaning against his shoulder. Eva had been happy to see the inside of the console room but she was exhausted from her experience and her eyes shut before she knew it. The Doctor glanced down at her, seeing her eyes closed with a little smile on her face. He smiled fondly at his friend, walking down the hall to the hospital wing. 

The Doctor walked over to the row of beds, put her in one, then put a clip on one of her fingers which transmitted her vital signs directly to his sonic screwdriver. He adjusted his screwdriver which started to record the readings. The screwdriver buzzed loudly which caused Eva’s eyelids to flutter open. 

“Doctor?” 

“What do you remember of the past day, Eva?” he picked up several vials of medication that might be needed and put it nearby so they would be within easy reach. 

Eva blinked her eyes slowly then focused on her friend. The Doctor was always there for her, she thought, feeling gratitude for him surge up inside her. She put one hand on her Doctor’s with a little smile. “Being really sick and you helping me.” 

“That’s right,” he smiled a little bit, picking up a small Epi-pen like device. “I’m going to give you something to help you sleep.” 

“Sounds good.” she smiled faintly back at him. The Doctor didn’t like how pale and sick she looked so hopefully the drug would give her some deep and healing sleep. Eva extended her arm helpfully, the Doctor injected her, then watched as she closed her eyes, exhaling with a little sigh. He pulled the covers up over Eva, fished out a fleece blanket from the linen closet, spread that over her and just watched her for a moment. 

“Sleep tight, Eva Barnes.” was all he said. 

**  
That was yesterday. Now the Doctor was focused on flying the TARDIS, making routine repairs, trying to keep his mind off his sick friend. That morning he had checked in on her, there was no change and she seemed to be sleeping restfully. 

The buzzing of the sonic screwdriver echoed throughout the white room as the Doctor made several adjustments to the central column. While he worked he remembered the first time he’d seen Eva back on earth. 

Eva had walked into a coffee house where the Doctor had been sitting, ruminating on the very recent loss of Clara. She had seemed to sniff out his misery, gotten her latte, then plunked herself down in the chair opposite of him. The Doctor lifted up his forlorn gaze to see a woman in her mid thirties, brown hair streaked with pink, deep brown eyes looking at him keenly. She was dressed in teal scrubs and was wearing an ID badge that said NURSE on it. “Tough day, huh?” 

“I lost someone close to me.” he said in a noncommittal manner.

“Happens every day in my job,” Eva told him frankly. “you learn to live with it.” the Doctor appraised Eva, noting she was wearing makeup in such a way that complimented her medium skin and dark hair; an orange-red lipstick was drawn on perfectly. He thought she was insecure about her looks and compensating but then remembered that some of his past companions liked makeup and looking good so he banished the thought. 

Besides it didn’t look bad on her at all. “You’re a nurse so I assume you see it a lot?” 

“Yeah,” she took a drink. “it’s a fact of life, that’s all. With some of the older patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s you see the person that they were in their prime and now they are this shell of a person. It’s painful to watch and seeing someone decline is very difficult for families. The fact is that death is a mercy when you think about it. They don’t suffer anymore.” 

It was very true in some respects. The Doctor lowered his head and asked, “What about someone who dies so someone else can live?” 

“I knew someone like that. He died not long ago,” Eva’s voice grew a little thick. “it is a noble thing and they’d want to be remembered honorably. It’s the most selfless thing a person can do and we need to honor that, accept it and move on. But you can’t forget the person. I have this tattoo on my upper arm to remind me of his sacrifice and when I need help I look at it and draw inspiration from it.” 

“Inspiration? That’s one way of looking at it.” he started to perk up a little bit. 

“Yeah. Keep a picture of that person nearby and when you feel lost just look at it for a moment. You’ll find what you need.” Eva finished her drink. “Have to get back on shift now; but I have no doubt you will find your way.” 

“I will eventually.” he stood up as she did, his blue eyes riveted on her. 

“That’s the spirit.” she smiled. 

“What’s your name?” 

“Eva Jane Barnes.” they shook hands. 

The Doctor drew back a little bit but his eyes were so intense Eva was a little intimidated. The nurse looked a little amused but she didn’t feel threatened. “Do you like travel?” 

“I’ve never been anywhere.” 

“How about you broaden your horizons with some travel?” he led her to the TARDIS. The Doctor always liked people’s reactions when he showed off the time traveling police box. Eva’s eyes widened when she saw the interior, she stammered a little bit but couldn’t deny what she was seeing. The Doctor laughed with a mad glee in his voice, shut the doors and started punching buttons on the console. 

“So this goes through time and space?” Eva grabbed a panel as the TARDIS tilted to one side. “Like a DeLorean?” 

“Oh, no 1980s movie special effects here!” he shouted amid the clattering. “This is even better and it’s real!” 

So that was the start of their journeys together. Eva had strong morals, a love for makeup and fashion, and experimented endlessly with the clothing found in the TARDIS wardrobe. The Doctor’s favorite ensemble by her had been one of Ace’s old leather jackets, Sarah Jane’s green and white blouse, and a pair of jeans that had belonged to Rose. The nurse had ransacked the jewelry collection, making her own necklaces and earrings that were truly unique. 

With a sigh the Doctor finished his repairs, had a little lunch then decided to check in on Eva. The Time Lord walked briskly down the hall, checking the sonic screwdriver readings on his friend’s vital signs. If they had fluctuated in any way it would have alerted him and the fact that it didn’t had him happy that she was indeed recovering well. 

Eva opened up her eyes lazily under the Doctor’s gaze then smiled a little bit to see him. “Look who’s awake,” he said cheerfully. “How are you feeling?” 

“No more stabbing pain anymore and I’m very happy about that.” there was a little discomfort but she could live with it. 

“I can imagine. Your cries were horrible to hear,” they reminded him of Clara’s scream of pain as the raven hit her but he wasn’t going to elaborate on that. “but anyway do you need anything?” 

“Not a thing.” she did not fail to note the little shadow across his face but she would address it later. 

“Not a thing!” he teased. “How do you feel right now?” Eva still looked tired and her complexion was still white but that was to be expected-nobody recovered from what she had been through and bounced back in less than 48 hours. 

“A bit less tired. When can I go back to my room?” 

The Doctor chuckled, moving a few strands of Eva’s hair back from her face. “Very soon. You’ve been quite a good patient I must say.” 

“Gee, thanks. You on the other hand are a complete menace. Remember when you got a simple cold?” 

The Doctor blushed a little bit. Eva had come into his room once wondering why he wasn’t up and discovered he had a cold. He wouldn’t listen to her directions, took the medicine, then kept trying to work on the TARDIS and go on adventures. The nurse was used to obstreperous patients so she locked the main doors to the TARDIS, hid the keys in her bra, then put the TARDIS on auto pilot. The Doctor had been pretty sick and cranky so he tried taking his aggressions out on her but she refused to let his verbal abuse affect her. 

“You weren’t my worst patient, not by far. At least you didn’t assault me.” 

“Patients assaulted you?” Eva showed him a scar on her left hand. 

“Some dementia patients get aggressive,” she said bluntly. “it’s a fact of life.” 

That was another thing the Doctor liked about Eva-she accepted things that most people didn’t. Being a nurse meant you had to be tough on a higher level and she was a no nonsense kind of woman. “I think I’m going to take you to your room now.” 

“Great!” her eyes brightened up. The Doctor uncovered her then helped her to stand up. Eva’s legs were rubbery and a little unsteady but she managed to get herself into her room. 

Eva’s room was done in a mint green color with a dusty rose color for the trim. She had a mahogany vanity that housed her collection of makeup, a jewel case, and she’d culled out her favorite clothes from the TARDIS wardrobe to wear. She had a queen size bed with light blue sheets and an antique violet comforter and pillow shams in a floral design. The Doctor’s room was a few doors down from hers but given his erratic sleep schedule he was rarely in it. Eva had drilled him on keeping proper sleeping habits but he was only half human so she gave up. 

“Remember when I brought you back here to the TARDIS after your surgery?” he was curious to see how much of Eva’s memory remained intact. 

Eva sat on her bed then grinned, pressing her ice pack to her incision. “Yeah I do. You carried me in here, I saw the console room then I think I fainted-I can’t remember anything after that.” 

“Yes, you were unconscious,” the Doctor agreed, helping her lie down and covering her with the blanket. “after surgery you go in and out of awareness for awhile after that but you know that as well as I do.” 

“Yes I know.” she agreed. “Goodnight, Doctor.” 

“Goodnight, Eva.” he said with a smile. 

**  
Over the next few days Eva began to recover. She kept ice packs on her incision, got up several times a day to prevent blood clots from forming, and spent most of her time in the library. The Doctor had found her lying on a couch engrossed in a book called Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte. The Doctor told Eva they could visit Anne Bronte when she was fully recovered, something Eva was going to hold him to. 

Speaking of which where was the Doctor? He had put the TARDIS on autopilot and disappeared from sight. Eva was in the shower when she realized that her friend had been quiet for several hours which was a definite rarity for him. Usually the Doctor would bang around and shout when he was on a tear or be mending the TARDIS in its infinite number of repairs it always needed, but for him to be quiet was a bad thing. 

“Hang on, he’s never quiet.” Eva turned off the shower, dried off with a towel and put her outfit for the day on. Black track pants and a yellow shirt with her black clogs suited her for that day, then she looked down and removed the cellophane from her wound. The nurse studied her incision closely, making sure there was no infection. She rebandaged her wound, adjusted her pants, then hung up her towel. “Doctor?” 

No response. Usually when she was sick or hurt he was never too far away. Walking out into the hallway she checked his room, the console room, then walked into the library. 

“Where did you go?” on the large sofa that Eva liked to lounge on she saw the Doctor lying asleep. “Well, this is unusual to say the least.” she sat on the sofa opposite and reclined back, starting to fall asleep herself when she heard a muttering. 

“Eva,” the Doctor said, his tone urgent. “I’m coming! I know it hurts..” 

Eva blinked in surprise. Maybe that was why he had been looking so tired lately. Evidently her bowel obstruction episode had affected him more than either one would care to admit. She didn’t remember much about it herself except the agonizing pain which had brought tears to her eyes. 

“Oh Doctor,” she reached over and touched his hand. “I wish I could help you sleep better..” an idea came to her mind. One of Eva’s hobbies had been to sing and do karaoke night at bars and she knew that music helped to soothe the soul. What would an appropriate song be to be sung to a Time Lord having bad dreams? 

The Doctor brought out a lot of feelings in Eva. He could sniff out when she was in a depressed mood and could help her out of it by distracting her and the frequency of her episodes had decreased over time. Eva took the Doctor’s hands in her own then thought of the perfect song came into her mind. 

“Looking out in the morning rain  
I used to feel so uninspired  
And when I knew I had to face another day  
Lord it made me feel so tired  
Before the day I met you life was so unkind  
But you’re the key to my peace of mind..  
‘Cause you make me feel  
You make me feel  
You make me feel like a natural woman..” she sang sweetly, causing the restlessness in the Doctor to slowly dissipate. 

“I think I overdid it a little today..” Eva had tried a little light exercise, something that her body wasn’t ready to quite do yet. She curled up on the other couch, closing her eyes, clearing her mind then lying motionless for several minutes. The nurse wasn’t ready to sleep yet and she was just ruminating on her thoughts when she heard the Doctor’s breathing pattern change which meant he was awake. 

“Eva?” he asked low. “Can you hear me?” 

“Doctor..” she said in a low faint voice like she was still asleep. “raven.. scream..” 

“What?!” he sounded alarmed. Eva wasn’t lying either. The nurse was very sensitive and in her dreams she’d seen a brown haired girl screaming and she heard a caw of a raven. Every time she tried to bring it up the Doctor would dismiss her outright. Now was her chance to bring it up and he wouldn’t dismiss it because he thought she was sleeping. 

“Ugh..,” Eva turned her head towards him like she was having a bad dream. “coming for me! Oh shit! It’s coming!” she turned her expression into one of fright and pain. The Doctor didn’t seem to be doing anything so she made a few frightened noises. 

“Eva, wake up!” the Doctor took her shoulders and gave them a gentle shake. “Come on now!” Eva gasped and opened up her eyes. 

“Doctor… what the hell?” 

“Must have been one hell of a dream,” he sympathized. “while we’re both right here can I check your wound?” 

“All right,” Eva lay back down. “yeah, a hell of a dream. I keep seeing this girl and a raven and somehow it kills her. How can a simple creature kill a woman? Do I need to be worried about it?” 

The Doctor bit his lip as he lifted up her shirt a little bit to see the bandage over her wound. He checked it carefully, was pleased to see that it was mending perfectly. “Your wound is healing up nicely.” 

“You didn’t answer my question, Doctor. It’s a big concern for me, going through the space/time thing with you and not knowing what’s a danger and what’s not.” her gaze turned firm. 

The Doctor sighed. “How do you know about a raven and a woman?” 

“I have a gift, Doctor. I can pick up on some strong energies now and then,” Eva told him honestly. “I’ve had the power since I was 25 and your spiritual energy is cloaked in darkness and grief. I’m not letting this go either. You’ll feel better when you talk to me.” 

Even though it meant really opening up and exposing his innermost feelings, the Doctor knew Eva was extremely adamant and told her everything. 

“She died in order to save me,” he finished. “does that answer your question?” 

“Yes. I think that does,” Eva managed to sit up. “I’m glad you told me even if I had to bully you into it. This place is steeped in the energy of many people and I pick up on some weird shit. I see old men, a weird curly haired dude, a guy in black, a guy in a suit, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I hope you feel better for telling me this.” 

“I do a little bit. Question, did I hear you singing when I was asleep?” 

“Yes. You were having bad dreams too. A little music goes a long way.” 

“You have a great voice.. maybe I’ll keep you around.” 

“Damn right.” Eva gave him a hug, kissing him on the cheek. The Doctor flushed pink and smiled.


	2. Resurrectionists

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The 12th Doctor wishes to test Eva's psychic abilities so he lands them on a planet of graveyards. She performs well for him but then they discover everything is not as it seems. Eva is cruelly abducted, suffers hypothermia while the Doctor races to find her.

Resurrectionists

The TARDIS chugged its way down into space while the Doctor glanced up into the time rotor columns, ostensibly to make sure that the old girl was still working properly when a buzzer distracted him from his musings. He flipped up one of his screens and checked the coordinates of the planet. It didn’t have a name but from what he could find out it was mostly dead people-a planet of graveyards. Many people from neighboring planets stopped in and interred their dead on the derelict world, the Doctor mused. There was an abnormally high content of psi or psychic energy that was emanating from the planet which was odd. The TARDIS was tracking the psi energy surges and they seemed to be increasing from what he could understand. 

“What kind of planet is this?” on a planet of dead people the Doctor would not be able to make a lot of the situation. Rising psi energy surges did not in particular intrigue the Doctor but there was one thing he wanted to really test. Not thing, someone, he amended to himself. 

When the Doctor had first met Eva he had been impressed with her-she seemed to pick up on the sense he was grieving for someone almost immediately. She’d told him later on that he’d had a cloud of darkness all around him and when he asked how she could know that, she’d smiled and said she just knew. 

Eva was sitting at her vanity, rubbing some exfoliating cream on her face. The nurse shut her eyes and sighed happily, smelling a faint odor of bananas. She picked up a microfiber cloth and began rubbing a cleansing oil on; covering her face with a shiny sheen. The Doctor knocked at her door, marching right in without a further thought. “What are you doing?” 

“What?” she turned, her face half covered in white exfoliant and oil.

“That!” he pointed to her face, marching over to her and glancing at her reflection in the mirror. “Why do you need three mirrors?” the Doctor perched on the other end of her makeup chair and glanced over at her as she wiped off the remaining oil. 

“So I can see myself better in the light,” Eva explained, turning left and right as the makeup lights shone down on her. “I need to know how the light reflects off the makeup and I can make adjustments if necessary.” he still looked a little confused so Eva picked up a highlighting brush and opened a little compact. “Watch,” she took the brush, dipped it into the compact, tapped off the excess, then applied it to the top of her cheekbones. “in that mirror I can see the highlight, that one I can’t. It’s a light trick.” 

The Doctor shook his head. “I’ve never known a race to be so vain before!” Eva smiled as she wiped her brush clean and put it back 

“That you probably haven’t, Doctor. I think that the human race is the only one which capitalizes off of people’s insecurities about how they look.” a fresh scent of bananas washed over her as she fiddled with her palettes. 

“You’d be wrong there. There’s a planet which is purely based on plastic surgery,” the Doctor put his hand on her shoulder. “I hope you’re not insecure enough to go for that type of thing.” 

“Perish that thought, Doctor,” Eva pulled out an eyeshadow palette, opened it up, then glanced at the colors. “I’m secure enough in my looks to know that I would never want plastic surgery.” 

“I’m glad,” he smiled briefly at her before standing up. “how long will it take for you to get ready?” 

“I can be ready to rock and roll in 15 minutes,” Eva put a crease brush in a medium brown pan and began to blend it in with her brush, making circular motion to create dimension. “I got it down to a science now, trust me.” 

“I think so.. when you’re ready I’ll be in the console room.” the Doctor left the room, internally wondering how Eva’s powers would stack up when he got her down to the planet. 

Eva completed her look which was a brown smoky eye, a touch of lipstick in a berry nude color, then she turned to the wardrobe. The nurse chose blue jeans, sneakers, a purple button up top with white t-shirt, and a brown leather jacket. Opening up the jewelry box, Eva chose rhinestone stud earrings, a pewter pendant necklace that was decorated to look like a hummingbird, then went into the console room. 

“Well, there you are with two minutes to spare!” the Doctor chirped loudly, punching buttons on the panel. Eva smiled and leaned into the console as he fiddled with the controls. 

“Where are we going today, Doctor?” 

“I’ve been getting funny readings from a planet of mostly dead people. I think that your mediumistic abilities will come in handy down there.” he flipped down a toggle switch and glanced at her. “Are you up for it?” 

“I think so. The only thing I would have to worry about is getting my energy drained too quickly. I can usually prevent it by wearing this,” Eva took off her necklace and replaced it with a different one. The Doctor could see it was a clear crystal of some sort. “this is clear crystal quartz; it will focus the spiritual energy so I can talk to them directly and give me an energy reserve. If this gets lost or broken then I’m up shit creek.” 

“I’ll make a note of that.” the Doctor activated the TARDIS landing system, clutching at the console edge in case the old girl bucked and rocked on the way down. 

“If you want to test my abilities then I think this planet might be right up my alley!” she teased as they landed with a loud thump. 

**

Eva glanced up the video screen transmitted by the TARDIS’s security camera over the door. It looked cold and snowy outside so she put a light blue scarf on, tucking the ends into her leather jacket while the Doctor put on his black coat and a pair of black leather gloves. “Everyone ready because here we go!” he opened up the door, peering out. “Looks safe enough!” 

“I’ll determine that,” the nurse murmured, walking past him. “I can already detect something is going on in here and these souls are not at rest.” she nearly tripped over a footstone walking outside but ignored the pain in her ankle. They had landed in a cemetery filled with monuments that seemed to stretch up to the sky itself. Mercifully though there were no weeping angel statues which made the Doctor happy. 

The Doctor shut and locked the TARDIS, shoving the key in his coat as a cold wind gently rustled his hair. Curious to see what Eva would pick up, he remained quiet, watching his companion with anticipation in his eyes. The Time Lord was trying to stay objective but as with all his companions he’d grown fond of Eva and didn’t want her jeopardizing her own safety. She’d healed well after her health emergency which served to remind the Doctor that human life was more fragile than his and he had to treat them well. 

This was the first outing with Eva where he was utilizing her psychic abilities so the Doctor was highly interested in seeing how she performed. The nurse walked forward a few paces, shut her eyes, then started to tune her mind into the spiritual atmosphere. 

“Getting anything yet?” he prompted her, standing beside a large slate stone. 

“Something’s coming in,” she told him, clutching at the edge of a marble headstone. “hang on.. it’s getting clearer.” Eva kept her eyes shut, seeing the cemetery in her mind then sensed a disturbance in the air. Two figures in black but with a curious stripe of purple crouched down in the cemetery near a mausoleum. Eva opened up her eyes, watching one person open up a book and say an incantation. The landscape seemed to erupt with spiritual energy, making Eva cry out in astonishment, barely registering the Doctor’s hand in hers. She saw many spirits rise up from their graves then a whirlwind took them away. 

Watching his friend the Doctor saw her eyes were now open but she wasn’t seeing what he was. It was interesting to him to see her reaction; he knew it was genuine from the way she was acting. Eva watched at a fixed point as a scene unfolded before her spiritual eyes. The Doctor put his hand in hers, hoping she would use it as a grounding point and she seemed to respond, giving it a tight squeeze. The Time Lord heard her cry out but waited until she seemed quiet. 

“Holy shit,” Eva swore, brushing her hair back from her face. “that was intense.” she glanced around the cemetery as her heartbeat slowed down and she got her breathing back under control. 

“What did you see?” the Doctor glanced at her, a trace of concern evident on his face. His friend had turned a little pale in the gray air but she seemed in control of herself. 

“I saw two people use an old spellbook to raise the spirits of the dead then they used some sort of electronic forcefield to trap them.” Eva told him, brushing her hair back from her face. 

“Can you see where they went?” 

“It was vague but I can try. This way.” the Doctor allowed Eva to lead the way, slightly worried about her energy reserve but decided to let her worry about herself. The two of them went into the middle of the cemetery where Eva stopped and looked around, trying to orient herself. 

The Doctor felt that she was lost and was about to offer his services as a hypnotist (a talent he’d long ago forgotten about), then Eva seemed to recognize where she was going. “This way, Doctor!” she seized his hand and set down the path with a determined energy. 

They came to a stop outside an elaborate looking Victorian gothic family mausoleum. Eva peered into the dark abyss, pulling a flashlight and seeing a white marble urn at the back. “Doctor, if you would please.” she gestured. The Doctor pulled out his trusty sonic screwdriver, aimed it at the locks on the gate, then made the lock pop open. He kicked aside the lock, untangled the chains from the wrought iron with a muted swear. Eva and the Doctor each wrestled one side of the gates open with a lot of swearing and scraping sounds. 

“This is where the spirits guided me but now..” Eva shrugged, observing the white marble interior which had faded down with time and had gray streaks everywhere. Names had been etched on the stone but some of them had worn down to be almost unreadable. She knelt down to one, tracing the lines with her fingers, trying to discern who was buried there. 

“We’re not done before we start. Try to hone into the spiritual energy while I find a way to get down deeper,” the Doctor started sounding the walls. There were eight mausoleum spaces, four on each side with a name of a person on it so the Doctor started tapping all of them. He started up at the top, rapping his fingers and checking for any hollow sounds. “are you picking up on anything yet?” 

Eva sighed. “No. All the spiritual energy dissipated after the two rogues captured them. I don’t understand why they led us here.” 

“Because someone wants to raise the dead and cover their tracks! I don’t think this planet has the capability to understand the metaphysical or spiritual side!” the Doctor found a small recessed panel in the side of the white urn sculpture that stood at the back of the mausoleum. With the screwdriver he buzzed the panel open and snapped up a toggle switch located in the receptacle. 

One marble column near the entrance of the crypt was moved aside with a high pitched screeching sound as Eva moved over to join the Doctor where he was standing. The Doctor picked up a flashlight from one pocket then moved to the entrance but found a faint green glow emanating from a light at the end of the stairs. “Well here we go.” he took off down the stairs, leaving Eva in the dust. She went down the stairs more cautiously than he did, hearing the Doctor shouted, “It’s safe down here, you silly girl!” 

Smiling to herself and rolling her eyes she continued at her regular pace then found the Doctor at the foot of the stairs. More crypts were in the walls, a receiving platform was in the middle of the room, and a few face plates with tarnished brass nameplates were piled up in one corner of the room. 

“It’s like the catacombs in Paris.” the medium saw a few rusted out caskets that were not interred properly. She ventured closer to see a few skeleton sets, a glint of old and rusted out handles while the Doctor combed the area with his flashlight. “What a fixer upper..” she muttered, flinching away from cobwebs. 

“Rubbish!” the Doctor retorted brusquely, examining something in the corner. “It’s nothing like that at all, silly girl!” he’d found two sets of boot tracks and like a dog, managed to discern something that had been left behind. He blew away some dust to reveal a white piece of paper. 

“Oh for god’s sake, you cranky old man!” Eva sneezed. “It’s moldy and dry rot is really prevalent down here so let’s make it quick.” she shoved her hands in her pockets as she waited beside the entrance tunnel. 

“Fine,” the Doctor picked up a piece of paper and read it out loud. “Plan 5, G908, 459000-234150.” 

“What is that?” 

“Come now, girl. It’s a set of coordinates in space. It’s the 908th galaxy. If we set the TARDIS for this maybe we can crack the mystery.” he shoved the paper in his pocket then walked over to Eva. 

“All right,” Eva’s eyes began to water. “can we get out of here now?” the Doctor led the way upstairs, taking Eva’s hand and pulling her out into the gray air. 

“Are you OK?” Eva’s eyes had cleared but they were a little red. “What is it?” 

The medium turned her head and sneezed again, turning back to the Doctor with a little sniffle. “I’m allergic to mold, Doctor. I can smell it a mile away and I start sneezing.” 

“Makes sense. Do you need to pop back into the TARDIS and get an antihistamine?” they left the mausoleum. 

“No; I usually keep some in my pocket here,” Eva took out a small blister pack, popped one and took the medication. “I’ll be all right in a few minutes.” 

“Good.” just then they saw a small green light which was flashing as they walked back towards the TARDIS. Before they knew the planet started shaking, the Doctor grabbed Eva’s hand, both started running towards the ship but were stopped midway. A few stones started crumbling down around them as the Doctor barely registered Eva’s terrified squeak. A flashing bright light descended, revealing two dark figures. Eva stumbled and fell, taking the Doctor down with her. 

“You pigeon toed woman!” the Doctor pushed himself off of her then froze as the two dark figures approached. Dumbfounded the Doctor tried to push away one of them but the other thrust a syringe full of an unknown substance forward, injecting Eva in the neck. The medium barely had any time to react as the Doctor saw her face go slack, her eyes closed and she slumped forward. “What did you just give her! Eva? Eva!” he grabbed her wrist and checked her pulse which had slowed a little bit. 

The figures did not respond to the Doctor; he felt a similar jab in his neck then collapsed as well. The tombstones seemed to jump up from the ground and cloud his vision, swirling around as his eyelids grew very heavy and with a sigh, closed them. 

**

There was light or a little bit of it. Shadows played off of each other which made Eva think she was lying alone and abandoned by the Doctor. The medium kept absolutely still and reflected on what had brought her there. She and the Doctor had found a planet with unnaturally high spiritual activity, he had wished to put her powers to the test so she’d agreed to land. On the planet she had not disappointed the Doctor at all-at least he didn’t seem disappointed. 

It was strange. Everyone who’d been buried in that cemetery had come up or appeared beside their stones, all waiting for attention like soldiers ready to go to war. Then two figures near the mausoleum somehow trapping their energy. The spirits had no choice but to go into the energy trap, some reaching and crying out for Eva for help. 

It was too much for her; the psychic impression came back to her. So many faces and so many stories to be told. She had stood in a spiritual tidal wave that had washed over her and overloaded her mind with images. The last one she had seen was a face with melting flesh, screaming with agony that rang in her ears and her mind. 

“I think she’s coming round,” someone said somewhere. “what of the other one?”

“The Time Lord? His signs show he’s stable.” 

“That’s good, but he’s not the one that we want right now.” 

“So what do we do with him?” 

“We will let him wake up but we want her. I want to run some brain scans on her in order to determine the level of her psychic abilities.” 

“Should I prepare her for the mind scan?” 

“Yes. Though she’s coming awake now I would need to sedate her again to make sure we don’t get any conscious interference.” 

They’re going to sedate me again! Eva thought with a panic. I don’t know these people from Adam and they’re going to do shit to my head! She opened up her eyes then saw a female with bright blue hair and eyes to match bending over her. 

“Hi, there. We’re just going to take some images of your brain,” the woman told her. “your friend is fine, he’s right here.” the Doctor was lying on a gurney right next to her, eyes still closed, apparently still unconscious from the drug’s effects. Eva moved suddenly, clasping his hand. 

“Doctor!” she called desperately. “These people want to x-ray my head! You’ve got to tell them what gift I have can’t be measured by this!” she let out a gasp of surprise as the female broke her grip on the Doctor’s hand. Eva saw him stir a little bit at her distress and for that she faintly smiled. The two of them had a spiritual connection as well-the Doctor had a little psychic capability himself, as evinced by his connection to the TARDIS. 

“Come on, I’m going to sedate you-you’d have to be still for a long time in there and it’s just easier this way-” the woman tried to sway Eva but it wasn’t going to work. 

“Doctor!” Eva called again as the woman injected her with the syringe. “I need your help!” the drug took effect, making Eva’s eyes roll back in her head and she fell limply back on the gurney with a little grunt and sigh. 

Unbeknowst to the woman, the Doctor’s eyes were slitted open and he saw Eva struggling against the attendant. He had been roused by Eva’s cry for him and he wanted to interfere but his limbs felt weighted down, a lingering aftereffect of the drug he’d been given. The Time Lord knew that Eva’s powers were not able to be detected by any machine; Eva hadn’t told him how she had acquired her powers but he thought there was a good story behind it. 

Science sometimes went too far, the Doctor thought. Even he knew that some things were just unexplainable by convention but that didn’t mean that they weren’t real. He idly watched the attendant take Eva’s body away to be examined. Her body would be scrutinized but the power that lay in her mind could not be measured-whoever was in charge was doomed to failure. 

**

About fifteen minutes later, the heaviness wore off of the Doctor’s limbs and he stretched for a long moment. The blue haired woman came to measure the Doctor’s vitals; having completed that task he grabbed her arm, blue eyes opened wide, then he sat up. “Where in the hell did my friend go and heaven help you if you lie to me!” 

“She went for a brain scan!” the woman struggled. “Take your mitts off of me!” 

“Do you realize that-” he stopped short as another woman came into view. The new woman had big gray eyes and blonde hair done back in an empire braid. She had an aura of no nonsense, something that Eva had but this woman was almost menacing in it. Both women were cloaked in black; only their hair and eyes were colorful. 

“Is there a problem here?” she asked mildly. 

“What’s your name?” 

The blonde inclined her head a little bit. “Why would you want to know that?” 

“Are you a droid?” he demanded hotly. “I need to know your name so I can address you properly when I curse you out! Where is my friend?!”

The blonde measured him up and nodded to the blue haired one. “I’m Shelley and this is Jade.” 

“Is that an oxymoron?” the Doctor asked in disbelief. “All right, never mind that! Where is Eva?” 

“Your friend is having her brain scanned-in fact, we’d like you to look at it.” 

“Lead the way,” he said with a sigh, standing up. “this will be good.” 

Jade and Shelley along with the Doctor stood in the booth that overlooked the MRI machine. The tech was conducting the test, adjusting the positioning as Eva’s face slid into view on the monitor. The Time Lord glanced at the monitor, seeing Eva lying motionless. “I know you sedated her; is that really necessary?” 

“We needed her brain to be completely clear of conscious or subconscious thought,” Shelley defended. “any thoughts would invalidate the test results.” 

“It’s still invalid by doing this to her,” the Doctor told them a little arrogantly. “it would be better to do this when she’s naturally asleep so all the thought processes can work together. Your MRI will not prove anything.” 

“Jade?” Shelley asked. “Is the test done?” 

“Yes Shelley. As the Doctor says there’s nothing there.” 

“That’s my friend we’re talking about!” the Doctor looked at Eva’s MRI. “You mean normal brain and no imaginary psychic gland or something! All you need to do is to let her wake normally then have her tune into the psychic energy around here! Did you see us in the cemetery?” 

Shelley and the Doctor walked into the hallway as Jade took Eva back to the recovery area. “We did see that you were there but only after you’d gone into the mausoleum. I didn’t catch your name.” 

“I’m the Doctor,” he said with an air of finality, following her into the curtained off area as Jade adjusted the gurney. The Doctor put his hand on the side of Eva’s face gently, allowing it to slowly slide down so his hand was on her shoulder. “this is Eva, a person who is a nurse by day and a medium by night. She’s a friend of mine and I will not permit anyone to hurt her!” 

“Doctor,” Jade glanced up at him. “how does she possess these powers?” 

“As to that I don’t know. She never told me,” the Doctor sighed. “seems we still have some secrets from each other.” 

“You can’t expect to know everything about a person,” Jade said sensibly. “you’ll never know unless you ask.” she noted how his gaze was fixed on his friend and some affection seemed to rise in his eyes. 

“Seems like I haven’t been asking the right things lately. First she goes down with a medical emergency and now this,” the Doctor said softly, touching her hair. “but she saw something out there.” 

“About half an hour more and she’ll be waking up, Doctor,” Jade assured him. “she will be fine.” 

Shelley reappeared, smiling wistfully. “Can I offer you a refreshing drink, Doctor?” 

“I think that would be most acceptable,” he accepted. “let me know when she rouses.” 

“I’ll stay with her, Doctor. You’ve got nothing to fear.” Jade sat in a chair by Eva’s bedside. 

The Doctor leaned forward to brush a small kiss on Eva’s pale cheek. “You’ve got all the answers now. Sleep well because it might be the last rest you get for awhile.” the medium did not respond, her face shuttered in unconsciousness yet the Doctor thought he saw her crystal necklace glow for just a second. 

**

In a staff room a few minutes later Shelley handed the Doctor a teacup and sat down in a folding chair opposite him. He murmured thanks, blowing the steam away while gathering his thoughts. 

“So how did you and Eva meet?” 

“She found me actually,” the Doctor began, taking a sip. “I was mourning the loss of a friend of mine, sitting in a coffeehouse, then this nurse comes along, sits in front of me, and starts picking up on my loss immediately.” 

“She’s a nurse?” 

“Thirteen years as an intensive care nurse as I later found out. She’s seen a lot. We connected and I invited her to travel with me. Speaking of which, I need my ship.” 

“We beamed it aboard the cargo hold, Doctor,” Shelley gave him a smile. “figure it’s the least we can do. I know the manner in which we took you wasn’t exactly civil.” 

“I’m glad there’s still some humanity left.” 

“Agreed. We are the last of the human race, Doctor. There’s some strange rogue people going around and stealing spirits for some odd project or something. We don’t know much about them, only that when the psi energy builds up it means they’ve been summoning spirits and the psychic residue lasts for days.” 

“Why would they do something like that?” the Doctor pursed his lips, looking pensive. 

Shelley looked him straight in the eye. “Because they’re obsessed with the fact that death is finite and they want to conquer death.” 

The Doctor sighed, putting his cup aside and rolling his eyes. “Each time I think people have accepted what’s coming for them there’s a new faction of deniers in each generation.” 

“What do you think?”

“I’m a Time Lord, basically immortal. I have no opinion on this. Eva has strong emotions connected to mortality; you’d have to consult her.” 

“I will as soon as she wakes up. There’s a constant battle going on between us and the rogue group,” Shelley said unnecessarily. “I think that you and Eva can help us eliminate the rogues.” 

“If they’re a rogue group, they have a name so what is it?” 

“They call themselves the Resurrectionists, after the 19th century group of what was essentially body farmers. They’d dig up graves and sell bodies to medical schools.” 

“There was a scandal about that back on earth, early 21st century except it was selling body parts,” the Doctor remembered. “long story.” 

“I imagine it must be,” Shelley looked up as Jade came into the room. “any word?” 

“She’s starting to rouse.” 

“Good,” the Doctor stood up and went back out to the recovery area. “Eva, can you hear me, girl?” he took her hand, something he was forming a habit of doing lately, he noted. Eva twitched but her eyes didn’t open. “Eva, what happened to the ghosts?” 

“Doctor?” her voice was piteous, making Jade think that she was having trouble waking up. The Doctor thought the same as he glanced up at Shelley. 

“I’m here, Eva. Where are the spirits?” 

“Trapped..” her expression turned to one of pain. “can’t remember..” 

The Doctor looked frustrated but he swallowed what he wanted to say. Eva wasn’t in her right mind yet; he would have to wait until she fully regained consciousness. “When you wake up fully you’ll be able to tell us more.” 

“Flash of light..,” Eva managed to say. “shock..” she twitched a little bit, unable to open up her eyes more than halfway. 

“Sounds like a shockwave,” Jade murmured. “we need more info than that.” 

“Maybe not,” the Doctor pulled out the piece of paper from his pocket he’d forgotten about. “I have a little information here we might be able to use. Where do the Resurrectionists usually hide?” 

Jade took the paper and checked it, her eyes lighting up. “These are the coordinates for their home base! I’ll tell Shelley to plug them in and we can finally find them!” 

Eva seemed to react a little bit as the Doctor turned back to her. Jade’s excited voice seemed to rouse her a little more so the Doctor decided to try a little experiment. “Eva, I need you right now,” he made his voice a little higher like he was excited. “Eva! Can you help me?” she reacted a little more, turning her head towards the sound of his voice. 

“Doctor, we need-” Shelley came in, giving him an odd glance. “what are you doing to her?” 

“A little test. She’s responding to my voice the higher it goes so I might be able to wake her up quicker.” he grabbed a blanket from the nearby linen rack and began to unfold it. 

Shelley looked bemused for a moment then snorted. “Do you know why she’s reacting this way to a high pitched voice? No? It’s actually because she’s female and all female humans are programmed to respond to a high pitched cry.” she let the Doctor draw the inference but it seemed to go over his head. 

“Why a high pitched cry?” the Doctor asked, drawing the blanket over Eva. 

“Because usually babies have a high pitched cry, Doctor,” Shelley left the recovery area, calling after her, “are you saying you’re a baby at heart?” she started giggling. 

Blushing fiercely, he looked down at Eva who seemed to him to have a semblance of a smile on her face too. He looked again and it was gone. “You earth females are all so complicated! Never mind!” he huffed off. 

**

An hour later the ship they were on was going through light space in order to find the rogue group. Shelley was piloting the ship, Jade was off duty, and the Doctor was sitting by Eva’s side reading a book that Shelley had loaned him. Eva lay motionless for a long time so the Doctor was becoming concerned by her progress on waking up. He stood up, ran a scan on her, then checked the readings. She was completely normal except for the fact her respiratory rate was a little low for his liking. The Doctor didn’t have that issue-he had a respiratory bypass system, but then again, Eva had received two consecutive doses. All sedatives repressed respiratory function in varying degrees so the medium had more of an issue breathing now. 

“Shelley?” he called. “Does your sedative depress respiratory function at all?” 

“There is a slight chance of that happening!” she answered him. “Are her stats low?” 

“A little bit.” 

“Give her a few drags off that mask and little bottle hanging up. She’ll revive.” 

The Doctor found the apparatus, turned the release valve on the little bottle, then fitted the mask over Eva’s mouth and nose. He pressed a button to force the drug into his companion’s respiratory system a few times then withdrew it, waiting impatiently. 

Eva gasped, her eyes opening wide, then she lay back, coughing a little bit. The Doctor waited patiently, looking at Eva until she got her breathing back under control. She turned her head to look at him then lazily gave him a little smile. “I’m back, so it seems.” 

“So it would seem,” he told her. “how are you feeling?” 

“I feel fine. Now, where are we or when are we?” 

“What’s the last thing you remember?” 

The medium blinked, giving the Doctor a look of exasperation. “I asked first.” 

“Fine! We’re heading to a rogue group who is trying to cheat death by trapping spirits of the dead out of cemeteries. They call themselves the Resurrectionists.” 

Eva’s eyes grew wider. “The 19th century group that-” 

“Yes, I already got my history lesson today, thank you very much,” the Doctor cut her off, annoyed. “so you saw spirits of the dead beside their stones become trapped by two people?” 

“I did. I don’t understand why we had to enter the mausoleum from there and go downstairs though. There wasn’t anything down there.” she sat up on the gurney, ignoring the little dizzy feeling inside her head. The Doctor hovered in front of her, ready to help in case she started feeling faint. 

“No, there was something there. Remember that paper I found? It gives a space-time coordinate for the Resurrectionist ship and where it likes to hide out. We’re on our way now.” 

“Um, good. Why would so many spirits hang out at a cemetery though? Maybe they were forced there in a group by the rogues.” Eva shut her eyes and wobbled a little bit, prompting the Doctor to steady her by grasping her arm. 

“Remember the spellbook you originally mentioned? The spirits were called there,” he reminded her. “they were summoned by those two, trapped for god knows what purpose.” 

“I guess that could be it. I hope my spirit guide is up to the challenge.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean if these Resurrectionists are wandering around the galaxy plundering souls to try to reincarnate them, I’m elected by default, being the only medium around, to try to release these spirits from their captors. I have no idea how many there could be.” 

“I’m sure-” 

“No, Doctor, listen to me,” Eva interrupted. “you’re not getting it. What I’m saying is that there could be a lot of spirits that need guidance all at once so I have to help them. To do something like that requires a monumental effort of energy on my part. My body could wear out after a few minutes-I could die.” 

The Doctor’s color drained from his face. “We’ll find a way to help you withstand the energy demand,” was all he could say. “you may be mistaken anyway.” 

“I hope to God that I am,” she answered him. “at the least it could put me in a coma for several days.” 

“Have you done something near this scale before?” Eva slid off the gurney, causing the Doctor to stand up. 

“No of course not. I have every right to be nervous. I trained and honed my skill for years, Doctor but I didn’t imagine that someday this kind of thing would happen to me!” 

The pair went into the ship’s galley to have a late supper where Jade and Shelley caught up with them. Eva made small talk for a few moments, knowing exactly what they were going to ask her and trying to delay it a little bit. “So how did you get your powers exactly?” 

Eva sighed, not wanting to discuss it but they were not going to let up until she answered them directly. She cleared her throat and started. “I was 15 years old when I fell seriously sick. I had become delirious with fever,” the memories burst from her mind so she shut her eyes, grasping the Doctor’s hand so he could see what she was seeing. The Time Lord could see a sick teenage Eva, face sweaty and flushed, lying in darkness. “it was just a few days after I was admitted to the hospital when I began to see people drifting in and out of my room. I started asking nurses about the people and they would just brush me off. A night nurse told me that I was seeing people who had died and were asking me for help. I couldn’t help them-I was too sick at the time. I had been diagnosed with a severe case of scarlet fever and when I saw the night nurse again I asked her why the ghosts had targeted me. She told me it was because my illness had opened my spiritual eyes and they can sense it.” 

The medium was holding everyone in the palm of her hand. The Doctor saw in flashes her teenage self talking to the nurse then lying motionless in bed. “I went into a coma for several days and almost died. After that I somehow began to get well but to this day I don’t know how it was possible. I asked the doctor how I recovered and all I got in response was that I shouldn’t have. Apparently the disease had started to affect my heart. But anyway I learned about my powers and started to develop them to help people. I finally gained full use of my abilities when I was 25 and began healing and helping lost souls.” she opened up her dark eyes, noting that the Doctor was looking at her a little differently than before. His gaze lingered on her as her eyes turned to Shelley and Jade. 

“Incredible,” Shelley murmured. “I think you have great power and astonishing potential to help us.” 

“Indeed you do,” the Doctor was feeling a little shell shocked by Eva’s revelations. “I think I can help you remember what happened to you that night.” he clutched her hand tighter in support. 

“How?” 

“I spent time in a Tibetan monastery when I was young. I learned about hypnosis and trances and such. Wanna give it a go?” the Doctor never practiced the hypnosis or trances on his companions except for Sarah Jane on a few occasions-they all seemed to prefer that the Doctor stay out of their heads universally. Eva was the exception to the rule, he allowed. She would be able to tolerate it much better than the others. 

“Can we do it later? Right now I need to concentrate on the task at hand. Shelley, where are we?” 

“We’ve arrived. The Resurrectionists will be around at any second. We need to figure out where they’re going and head them off.” 

“Sounds like a plan,” Eva stood up. “let’s get going.” 

**

The group of four hovered around the monitor where the Resurrectionist ship would soon be arriving. “Can they see us; do we have any identifying marks on the ship?” the Doctor inquired, using his sonic sunglasses to scan the area. 

“I’ve never seen those before,” Eva remarked. “you look very Blues Brothers like.” 

“We’re just a nondescript transport ship as far as anyone can see,” Shelley assured them. “hanging about, waiting our turn to unload at that planet’s docking station.” 

“An innocent ruse,” the Doctor wasn’t satisfied. “any moment now they might know we’re here and take off.” 

“How can they know that?” Jade asked. 

“They may have methods of detecting Eva’s a medium. Either they’ll turn tail and run away or Eva will be kidnapped.” 

“Kidnapping wasn’t in the contract, Doctor!” the medium exclaimed. “I’m here purely on the interest of those souls in danger. I could care less about the people being absolute dickheads to them!” 

“Jade, can you hack into their systems and try to download their system files? Maybe there’s something there that we can use against them.” Shelley suggested, her eyes never leaving the Resurrectionist ship. 

“I’m gonna try. Their firewall seems pretty sophisticated.” Jade began typing a mile a minute on the keyboard while Eva’s mind flashed an image to her. 

She hadn’t realized that she gasped; the image was fleeting but powerful. The medium was lying on a chest tomb in freezing cold weather with several ghostly souls around her. Her face showed signs of violence, her wrists bound at her sides while two people lurked in the background. The Doctor snapped to attention; he knew Eva was seeing something by the way her gaze remained fixed straight ahead, her skin had turned a shade paler. 

“What is it?” he demanded, stepping forward. “What do you see?” 

Eva blinked then exhaled shakily. “Physical connection,” she was a bit breathless but she took the Doctor’s hand, drawing him in closer to her. “I need to deepen the physical connection to you. Hang on,” she full on kissed him for a moment, hoping he would understand what she was trying to do later on, then drew back a step. “they’re going to kidnap me, I know it.” 

“What was that about?” the Doctor and Shelley stared at her. 

“Doctor, now when you hear my voice in your head know that it’s real and I am contacting you to help me. I can let you into my mind to see what I see so you can find me faster,” Eva moved back, her voice rough, eyes uncertain. “listen to that voice in your head. You’ll better understand me soon.” 

Bewildered, the Doctor watched as Eva backed off then a strange strobing light seemed to emanate from her. The medium glowed brightly for a moment then with a scream, Eva disappeared. 

“Eva!” the Doctor shouted, rushing forward but she was nowhere to be found. “Shelley, where are they headed?” 

“Looks like they’re down there on that planet, Doctor.” the ship was streaking towards the planet so Jade abandoned her efforts to hack their files and followed. 

“If they hurt her, I’ll hurt them worse!” the Doctor growled, hanging onto a strap from the ceiling as the ship bucked and wobbled, tailing the rogues down to the planet. “So help me, I’ll flay them alive!” 

Jade exchanged a look with Shelley, clearly thinking that there was more to the Doctor and Eva’s relationship than met the eye. Shelley understood her friend’s look then peered into the windshield of the supply ship, intent on catching up to their fugitives. 

**  
For Eva everything was dark and muffled. She’d landed in a teleportation apparatus of some sort, a shadowy figure had lurked out of the darkness, delivered a glancing blow on the back of her head which caused her to fall. The medium had tried to fight back but she received several blows all over her body which caused her to give up. Eva knew fighting physically wasn’t her strong suit anyway so it was just as well to submit. 

Several minutes passed. The medium felt a sharp piercing cold and knew that her vision was about to come true. Lying feebly with no resistance she tried not to flinch as the cold stone grazed her back, her wrists were bound. Low voices were heard but Eva’s mind was so clouded she couldn’t make anything out. 

“Let’s see what the old medium can do to all this lot!” was the only thing that Eva heard. She groaned, dazed from the blow to her head and the coldness settling all over her body. 

After a minute she opened up her eyes, seeing a cold gray sky up above. Snow was starting to fall; Eva knew she was being left alone to die. Before she knew it, several ghostly spirits had surrounded her on all sides and her mind was being attacked with images she did not understand. The common thread was that they were taken against their will and she saw bodies-lots of them, strangely lying haphazardly everywhere. 

I don’t understand, she thought. A spirit near her seemed to take pity on her and placing one hand on her brow, made her see flashes. One spirit, summoned back to the material world by an invisible force, generated by a spellbook, then an invisible jolt of energy which sucked the spirit into a place where it was contained. Eva could feel the spiritual energy, rising and angry, then two faces appeared. More flashing light, an intense sensation of pain, then nothing. 

Oh god, Eva began to understand. they’re stealing spiritual energy and selling it to people! They’ve become merchandise! Anything to make a quick buck! 

“I can’t let this happen!” Eva pulled at her bonds, begging the spirits to help free her but none of them could do anything. Blood trickled down on the left hand side of her face as the physical pain flared up from her head wound. Doctor, stop them.. she reluctantly closed her eyes. 

At the same time the Doctor could faintly pick up on Eva’s distressed mind. He left the ship, accompanied by Shelley and Jade, his brain was tuning into Eva even more than usual. All he caught was a glimpse of darkness, a flash of pain, Eva’s voice telling him to stop them and that was it for the moment. The Doctor flipped his hooded sweatshirt up, buttoned up his jacket then began to walk. 

Jade exchanged a look with Shelley, who buttoned herself up into a bulky jacket, thrust her hands in her pockets and began to walk with the Doctor leading the way. “So how about that kiss, huh?” Jade grinned, hoping a little light banter would rouse the eccentric Doctor from his doldrums. 

“Um, not the right time for that,” Shelley demurred. “he’s going to explode if she’s not found safely. My regret right now is not being able to analyze Eva’s mind and determine where her abilities are coming from.” 

“They come from her mind, you silly women!” the Doctor shouted, turning back. “The mind is the only thing not thoroughly mapped and discovered in any human being! The mind is capable of many wondrous things, the likes of which you still don’t understand. Even in today’s skeptic society there are still people who believe that a mind like Eva’s is enlightened; she can see and hear things that few can! On the other side people still believe that a person with my friend’s mindset are feeble and weak-those deluded people can’t open up their own minds enough to embrace the possibility of one terrible, wondrous thing!” 

“What do you think that is, Doctor?” Shelley played along as they walked, passing by a big cemetery and following the marks made in the snow. 

“That life survives death! That love triumphs over every little thing! People whose spirits come back after death wish to see their relatives one more time out of love for them!” 

Shelley was stunned momentarily. She had heard the theory that love transcended all barriers even death but it was always a rumor, unproven because, “People love to fight too much because our brains all process information very differently and nobody can agree on whether it really is love or some farcical dream.” 

“EXACTLY!” the Doctor shouted, thrusting his hands to the air. “Maybe if you didn’t fight so much you’d all reach some conclusions that Eva arrived to very long ago!” 

“All right Doctor, are you done human shaming us?” Jade said a little defensively. 

“I am because we are right where we need to be,” he said with a smug smile. “meet the Resurrectionists!” 

**

Two men were crouching in the snow deep in the heart of a cemetery. The Doctor hid behind a large stone, Shelley and Jade did likewise but kept their eyes open to peer out and see what they were doing. A cold wind blew through them, making the women shiver but the Doctor was impervious to the elements. “Look at that,” the Doctor whispered as one man put a circular device on top of a rounded sphere. “it’s a psi energy concentrator; draws the ghosts in and keeps them.” buttons were pressed and a green energy forcefield erupted from the psi concentrator. Within the cemetery itself people that were buried there sprang up from the ground and looked around. 

“Oh my god, so what they say is real,” Jade kept her voice low. “what-why are they doing this?” 

“Look, not everyone who has a stone is up if you will,” Shelley saw some stones remained vacant. “why are they not all here?” 

“I don’t bloody know that,” the Doctor stood up. “time to introduce myself!” he started sneaking closer with the women tailing him. 

“I don’t see Eva here.” Jade told Shelley, creeping along. 

“Shh, he might hear us. I’m sure he knows anyway.” Shelley hushed. 

“Hello, I’m the Doctor!” the Doctor shouted broadly, walking casually towards the two men. “I see you’ve got a little experiment going on; how can I help? I’m a scientist.” The two men, one with purple hair and the other with a brilliant magenta, looked at the Doctor skeptically then decided that he wasn’t worth their notice. “Where is my friend?!” he shouted angrily. 

“She’s not here!” the purple one retorted. The psi energy glowed from green to red as the Doctor scanned the area with his sonic sunglasses, checking around for Eva’s vital signs but he got nothing.

“Why did you kidnap my friend?”

“It wasn’t us!” 

“Let’s not play games!” the Doctor boomed irritably. “I want my friend back; why did you take her?”

“She was going to stop us and make the spirits go away! We need them for our research!” one man shouted back. “These are our ghosts and we need them!” 

“Need them to make a quick buck, you mean!” the Doctor could see a backpack lying against a mausoleum. He quickly stepped over to it, rooted around, then pulled out a small glass globe with a trapped spirit inside. “Some silly little tchotchke for the galactic travelers?” raising the globe up high he smashed it, freeing the spirit. Before anyone else could react he went directly over to the psi energy concentrator, the indicator blinking red meaning it was full. The trapped spirits inside rapped on the walls, each face a distressed expression which made the Doctor’s blood run cold. 

“Step away from the machine.” the magenta one demanded, his eyes white and cold.

“Or what?” the Doctor quickly snatched the energy concentrator and turned around, yanking the wires out. The red energy quickly dissipated and fell from the graveyard which allowed the spirits to leave. “Sorry, but the dead are not for sale. The spirit is a wonderous thing; something your feeble little minds can’t understand!” 

The men pulled out guns Shelley and Jade circled, weapons drawn. The Doctor gave the men a sarcastic smile, taking a moment to try to connect telepathically to Eva. He didn’t receive anything from her which served to make him even more angry. 

“Why would you do something like this to people, dead ones who can’t fight back?!” the Doctor got right in the face of Magenta man. “Why on earth would you do such a thing?!”

The Purple man tried to run away but Jade tripped him, grabbed him and made him kneel down, plugging the muzzle of her gun to his temple. “Just try to run away!” she snarled at him. 

“Why? Because there’s an infinite number of dead spirits around in any planet that you travel on!” Magenta man told the Doctor. “Every planet has folklore and mythology about the dead. It’s all very good bedtime stories but it’s not true! What we are doing is giving the dead people a function so they can still be useful.” 

“So you can cause them harm you mean!” the Doctor overrode the Magenta man’s tirade. “You brought them back from the beyond to harass and hurt them more!” 

“Nobody’s getting hurt-they’re dead!” Magenta man shouted over the Doctor. “How can you possibly hurt dead people?”

“Are you mad, man? Even though they’re dead they can still feel! Dead souls still have the emotions that they have in life-you’re traumatizing all of them, making them hate you!” the Doctor spied a crude rectangular device with the words Soul Trap on the side. “You know all of this, you’re reciting incantations that bring them back, you trap them, then bring them to your little little hideout and packaging them in glass balls to sell to travelers! Tell me, do you have any nightmares lately? Have any unexplainable things happen to you?” 

Neither man could say anything which made the Doctor laugh. “They’re getting their revenge on you and the very person who could help you has gone missing!” 

“Is it that girl we teleported aboard?” Magenta man rubbed his hands together as the snow fell thickly and fast. “She was interfering; giving our trapped spirits hope so we had to silence her.” 

The Doctor lost all color in his face and a rage built up behind his eyes. The two men shrank back a little bit as Shelley got the Magenta man in a chokehold. “One false move and I’ll give you a plasma ray right between the eyes,” she growled. “answer him.” 

“You attacked my friend,” the Doctor growled. “you had better hope that she’s not in any danger or I’ll turn you into ghosts and do all sorts of hexes for eternity!” an image of a bloody cut came to his mind but he controlled himself.

“We’ll never tell.” one of the men sneered at the Doctor. 

“Oh will you,” the Doctor got up very close to the Magenta man and removed his sonic sunglasses. “I think very much that you will!” 

“Or what? You’ll kill us? I’m sure that your own ethic code won’t permit that.” 

Doctor Eva’s voice seemed to come into his mind. so cold. 

“He’s right. I won’t allow anyone to be killed,” he grunted turning away and putting his sunglasses in his pocket. “take them to the authorities and let them deal these two.” 

Shelley and Jade were shocked. “You’re sure, Doctor?” Jade made her captive stand up where she produced a pair of handcuffs and shackled her prisoner in them. Shelley did likewise, keeping the muzzle of her gun in the small of his back. 

“You have handcuffs?” the Doctor was taken aback as well. “So you’re not just space wanderers or delivery drivers?” 

Shelley laughed. “We’re special agents of the Judoon. More of the undercover squad if you will. Are you coming back with us?” she and Jade made their criminals stand up as more snow began to fall. Jade gave the Doctor a look of respect as she took the men over to the nearby police car. He gave her a little glance of thanks but remained focused on Eva. 

“No, I have to find my friend.” the Doctor shut his eyes briefly, seeing a shadow of Eva falling, her body lying still with her eyes closed as snow began to accumulate. 

“All right. Use this and your TARDIS will appear when you need it,” Shelley gave the Doctor a thin star shaped remote. “call on us anytime; we’d be glad to help you out.” 

“Thank you,” the Doctor pocketed the remote. “I’ve got to find Eva.” 

**

Once the cemetery was clear the Doctor went to the gate, cleared his mind, then closed his eyes. He tried speaking Eva’s name in his mind and asking how she was. 

Eva? Are you safe?

Doctor, her reply was too short for his liking. I’m dying. 

Where are you?

Cold… cemetery..

Which one? Is there any identifying marks? Street number? The Doctor knew he was really reaching. Eva was likely suffering from severe hypothermia and would be hallucinating so he couldn’t depend on her mindset. Remembering he’d once set his sonic screwdriver to monitor her vital signs, he pulled out his sonic sunglasses again, calibrating them to lock onto Eva’s heartbeat. 

It was very faint but it was still there. The Doctor dashed out of the cemetery, took a left, then ran down the street. Eva’s heartbeat was too weak for his liking but as he ran around street corners, the heartbeat got a little stronger which told him he was in the right direction. 

Eva shivered on the platform then closed her eyes against the snow that was still falling fast. The medium pulled at her bonds but she was too weak to free herself. Is this the way I’m going to die? She thought. I’m so cold but now I feel hot.. 

Eva! You’re not going to die! The Doctor’s voice rose inside her head and she smiled a little bit. 

You would yell at a girl on her deathbed, Doctor? He could sense her amusement but for the Doctor there was no amusement to be gained from his companion’s deadly peril. Eva seemed very unlike herself but he had to remember that late stage hypothermia patients often hallucinated that they were getting hotter towards the end. Can feel my own heart slowing down. 

The Doctor arrived at the cemetery and could see plainly that Eva was tied to a stone near the gates. With a buzz of his sonic sunglasses he opened the gates then took out a pen knife and cut her bonds free. Panting slightly he grabbed his friend’s hands and rubbed them together, trying to warm her up a little bit. She was so cold that he briefly thought that she was right and she was going to die but banished that thought immediately. Eva, I’m here! He said mentally as well as physically, dropping one hand to the side of her face. The medium did not rouse. I’m going to save your life! 

“Hot..” Eva muttered as the Doctor picked her up. She felt like a rag doll in his arms and he was definitely alarmed at how cold she was. Her heartbeat slowed down a little more which further spurred him on. For one wild moment the Doctor thought that the tombstones, mausolea, and the statues were pulling at Eva’s spirit, trying to separate her from her body and pull her down with them. A new surge of determination overcame the Doctor as well as a flush of heat. 

“You’re all right, girl!” he said in a rush as he picked up the remote and summoned the TARDIS. 

“Doctor..” the medium moaned. “need to say goodbye...” she buried her head against his shoulder like a scared child. Her breathing started sounding more labored. The Doctor couldn’t hear her voice in his head anymore which meant she had lapsed into unconsciousness. 

“There’s no reason to say goodbye, Eva!” the Doctor banged inside the TARDIS and lay her on the floor near a heating vent. “I’m not going to let you die!” he pulled the dematerialization switch and programmed the ship to float in the space time vortex for awhile, then bent down over his friend. 

“You’re not going to die, Eva,” the Doctor opened up her jacket, shirt, then put his warm hand over her heart. “I’m not going to let you die!” she gasped loudly as she felt the heat radiating down, chasing the blue color away. Within moments Eva had lost that deadly white color and her skin began to have a rosy hue to it. The Time Lord removed his sonic sunglasses while he bent low and applied his ear to Eva’s heart. The beat was starting to pick up a little bit, he noticed. 

Heat! Thank god, blessed heat! Eva thought. She felt a tendril of warmth surge throughout her body like a flower spreading its petals out for the sun. The medium opened up her eyes, locking her brown ones onto the Doctor’s blue ones. She felt revitalized; tired yes but very much alive. With a smile, she hugged the Doctor the hardest she was able to. Instead of resisting he put his hands on her back, rubbing it slightly. 

“Eva, my clever girl!” he beamed, shaking slightly. Eva could recognize the warning signs of shock, even in a Doctor like him it was pretty obvious. She sat up, letting his heat run through her while the smile didn’t leave her face. 

“Come on, Doctor!” she stood up, pulled him up, then steered him towards his room. “Doctor, you’re exhausted; you’re going into shock. Come on, this way.” Eva got him to sit on his bed as the shaking intensified. She moved his legs up onto the bed, grasped his hand with a finger on his pulse which was nice and steady. The Doctor closed his eyes and fell back on his bed which made Eva giggle a bit-it had been rather comedic timing on his part. 

Ever a nurse, Eva took his pants and shirt off, bundled him into a thick fleece blanket, then left him alone. The medium sat at her vanity, took all her makeup off, then noted that she had a discolored spot on her right cheek. “What the hell? Is that frostbite?” in the harsh light of the vanity Eva could plainly see she had several cuts and scrapes all over her face and arms. She changed for bed, desperate for some peace and quiet, then noticed a big bruise on her midsection. “Oh well. I’ll heal all right.” 

Exhausted, she got into bed. 

**

Several hours elapsed. Eva awakened several times during the night, having a repeated dream of herself as a teenager sick in the hospital. She knew there was unresolved issues; her mind was signaling her to try to resolve them. The medium did not have the power to go back into her own memories and sort out what was troubling her; that was the Doctor’s forte not hers. 

At around 7 AM Eva sneezed then was overcome by a coughing attack. She had definitely gotten a bad chest cold from her time as a lawn ornament in the cemetery and try as she might there were no cold medicines available on the TARDIS. Groaning, Eva threw herself back onto the bed, propped herself up, then tried to fall asleep that way. 

A few hours later, Eva was uncomfortably sleeping when the Doctor roused. He wondered how he’d gotten to bed but had a few confused memories of Eva taking him to the bedroom and getting him to lie down. He remembered her telling him that he was going into shock and that he indeed did. The entire adventure they’d just had left a bad taste in his mouth as he remembered that Eva had been held hostage for two men who trapped spirits, imprisoned them in glass spheres and sold them for money. 

“Eva,” the Doctor mumbled, getting out of bed. “how in the hell did my clothes come off?!” he opened up the wardrobe and threw on black pants, blue shirt and his black hoodie. The Time Lord put on his boots then walked across the hall into Eva’s room. “We need to talk, Eva-” he cut himself off. 

The medium was lying propped up in bed, sleeping, but her cheeks were slightly flushed and there was a raspy sound to her breathing. The Doctor sat on the edge of her bed, brushing his hand across her forehead, feeling the little fever starting to grow. “Consequences of being left to die in a cold boneyard,” the Doctor said flippantly. “I got something to help you out.” he went into the sickbay, rustled through his drug supplies then found the vial he needed. 

Going back into Eva’s room, he measured out a dose of the drug and injected it into her arm. “You’ll sleep for a few more hours then wake up cold free.” the Doctor discarded the syringe, walked out of the room, then walked into the console room. Feeling the need to pull out his guitar he picked it up and wandered around the upper catwalk, strumming away on the chords. After a moment he put the guitar away, something Eva said still stuck with him so he dashed into the sickbay and back again, then input a destination into the TARDIS. 

The Time Lord left the TARDIS for a little while then a few hours later the Doctor opened up the doors, his mind still buzzing with what he had just done. Going back into Eva’s room he checked his companion’s temperature. Sitting on the edge of her bed, the Doctor put his hand on her brow, smiling when he didn’t feel any fever anymore. “Rise and shine, sleepyhead,” he teased. “Eva, come on.” 

Eva opened up her eyes, smiling to see the Doctor in front of her. “Doctor, hi.” her voice was a little too weak for his taste but she would get back up to speed again. She knew she looked pretty bad-still a little flushed in the face, feeling rather weak from her adventure. The medium was happy to see that the Doctor was still fighting fit. His blue gaze was gentle and mild but she could still detect some concern in them which meant he had something on his mind. 

“Hi. How are you feeling? Better?” 

“Actually yes,” she gave him a little smile. “how did you know I was sick?” 

“I came in here a few hours ago and checked you over. You had a fever so I fixed you up,” he measured her up. “doubtless it’s a cold brought on by your long exposure in the cold yesterday.” 

“Of course,” Eva remembered what the Doctor had told her on the ship. “Doctor, I would like you to help me discover how I got well when I was 15 years old.” 

His eyes widened a little bit, taking her hand. “Sure you want to do this now? It can wait until you’re completely well.” 

“I’ve been having dreams about it since I told you. I didn’t want to say anything because the memories came back and have been haunting me ever since. I won’t get any peace of mind until you help me. Please. The nightmares will just get worse.” 

“Fine,” he aimed the sonic screwdriver at the lights, bringing them down to a barely visible glow. “a little mood lighting! Now,” the Doctor adjusted his position. “I’m going to hypnotize you so you go into a trance. Follow my commands and you will go back into your repressed memory. Are you ready?” 

“Yes.” 

“Good girl,” the Doctor’s blue eyes riveted themselves on her. “you are getting sleepy..” Eva closed her eyes and reclined back while the Doctor put her into a deep trance. 

“Where are you now?”

“I’m looking at myself in the hospital room. It’s dark..” 

“What do you see now?” 

Eva turned, seeing her sick self in the hospital room. It was close to two AM, the doctor was telling the nurse outside that the teenage Eva’s illness had started to affect her heart and there was no time left for her. The medium glanced down at herself, knowing that if a miracle was going to happen now would be the time for it. 

On cue, the door opened up and someone walked into the room. It was too dark for Eva to see who it was but the person crept over to her bedside and put a friendly hand on her forehead. 

“What do you see?” the Doctor’s voice came from all around her. She saw a syringe in the dim light then the needle was directed into the accessory IV port. 

“Someone’s here and they’re giving me a drug.” 

The person straightened up, looking down at the sick teen while Eva sidled closer without the person seeing her. The unknown person took a clean washcloth, doused it in water and mopped the girl’s fevered brow. “You’ll be feeling much better in a few minutes. That drug will reverse the damage to your heart and you’ll be able to go on. There are people who need your healing abilities, Eva.” 

Eva leaned forward a little more and held back a gasp. It was the Doctor! 

“Eva, I’m going to bring you back now,” the Doctor estimated that she’d seen him in her memory. “concentrate..” he counted down and snapped his fingers. 

Eva exhaled and opened up her eyes, gazing into the Doctor’s searchingly. “Well, see anything interesting?” 

“I believe if we were keeping score you’ve saved my life about three times now,” Eva remarked. “who’d have guessed.” 

The Doctor laughed, pulling the covers up. “We’re still not fully recovered now by any means. I think we need to take a few days off of traveling. I became convinced of your authenticity when I saw you in the graveyard and knew then I would be traveling back in time to save you from your scarlet fever. It was very clever of you, kissing me and knowing that it would deepen our bond of friendship and also give me hope at the same time that you were still alive.” 

“Well, after your past friend I knew what you needed most was a more surefire way of talking to me and not dependent on technology,” Eva said sensibly. “my mind isn’t linked to wifi signals. I had no idea what we were going into and I thought the spirits needed absolution.” 

“They didn’t. As soon as I broke the psi device they left.” 

“The spirits might have regarded me as prey then. Some of them turn nasty, convoluted. Can’t be helped. It could have turned into a full blown psi energy attack on me if I hadn’t been so cold.” 

“I think we need to just relax for awhile.” the Doctor kicked off his shoes and lay down next to Eva. “Any objections?”


	3. Mourning Sarah Jane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: The Doctor plunges into mourning after he discovers that Sarah Jane Smith has recently died. He grieves for his long ago friend, going to her funeral, becoming so bogged down in his own grief he doesn’t realize that Eva’s depression has taken a hold of her again.

The Doctor waited around the entrance of a shopping mall while Eva disappeared into a cosmetics store. The medium had told him she would only be a minute; she was out of an eye primer and setting spray and would be back in a flash. The Time Lord didn’t understand a word of what she said but held her to her word that she would be back in a few minutes; it was going to be a really quick shopping trip then they could go back into space. 

“What else is new on this planet?” he snatched a newspaper from an unattended stand nearby then began to page through it. “Boring, boring, boring..” the Time Lord flipped the pages with a little rattle then came down to the obituaries. “Sarah Jane Smith, 83 years old, died at home with her adopted son and girlfriend…,” the Doctor read the words, stunned, letting the newspaper drop. 

“Doctor!” With a forced smile on his face, he greeted his companion. “I told you it would only be a minute!” she giggled, toting her purse and a small cardboard bag. “We can go now.” 

“Is there anywhere else you’d like to go?” 

“No. The earth doesn’t hold much interest for me.” The Doctor closed his eyes briefly which Eva took notice of at once. “What is it?” she took his arm, shutting the door behind them. “Doctor, you can tell me anything.” 

“It’s nothing,” he insisted, taking his place at the console. “now where would you like to go?”

“As long as it’s not a frozen planet with disembodied souls walking around I’m game for anything,” the medium smiled at him. “I’m going to start supper, any requests?”

“No, whatever you make is fine with me,” he retorted, waving her off. That surprised Eva; usually he antagonized her about her cooking endlessly though it was very much an improvement on his own fare. “I’ll be in soon.” 

“All right then.” Eva went off to her room as the Doctor resumed his expression of grief. Sarah Jane had come into his life when he was nearing the end of his third life and become an invaluable companion. She was an inquisitive journalist who had been successful in her career, and had gotten on board the TARDIS as a stowaway. Sarah had quickly endeared herself to the Doctor, particularly in his fourth life. They had endured an ark in space, Sontaran experiments, Zygons, space plants, Daleks, Cybermen and more. 

“Oh, Sarah Jane,” the Doctor whispered. “gone with Clara, Harry, Bill, Leela and so many others.” he blinked back tears as the TARDIS seemed to mute its usual noise as if it knew its master was having a moment. 

**

Eva walked over to her vanity, put down the little bag and took out her new setting spray. Giving her wrist a little squirt, she inhaled the smell of roses which made her sigh happily. The medium pulled out a little box, opened it up, then removed a small jar of eye primer. “Glad I got the good stuff this time.” she put it aside in the drawer then checked her reflection in the mirror. 

“Let’s go cook something up, shall we?” the lights flickered a little bit; Eva found herself in blackness, then when the light came back Eva saw another woman in the room. “Who are you?” she was a petite lady, brown haired with dark blue eyes. 

The woman smiled. “You’re going to need to look after the Doctor, Eva. He’s going to need you more than ever now.” 

Eva had the impression the woman was no longer among the living. “I don’t know who you are but I can promise you I won’t let you down.” 

“Good,” the unknown woman appeared very happy. “he’ll mourn me, you know, but I hope it isn’t for too long. I can be with my Doctor again..” the woman disappeared but Eva had a vision of a grinning man with a hat, curly hair and big blue eyes. 

“I didn’t know the Doctor could regenerate,” Eva mumbled. “I knew he was special.” just then the TARDIS’s cloister bell rang just once, giving the medium the clue that all was not well with the Doctor. Silently resolving to let him process his grief and allowing him to come to her when he was ready, Eva went to the kitchen and began to make supper. 

Intent on not letting the Doctor know that she knew, the medium turned on her usual playlist, rocking out to Queen and Buddy Holly with more contemporary bands until supper was done. She pushed the signal for the Doctor to come to supper but it took him a little longer than usual. Eva tried to make small talk with the Doctor but he was unusually tight lipped. Normally he’d make snarky remarks and tease her about her cooking, a friendly banter they both enjoyed but he remained quiet. 

“Doctor, I know something’s wrong with you,” Eva began as they finished. “I’m not going to pry but there will come a time when you shouldn’t be alone-” 

“If something was wrong I would have told you! I’m fine!” his voice was harsher than usual. “Would you please stop!” alarmed, Eva drew back. The Doctor saw that his tone had startled his friend so he stepped forward. “Eva, I didn’t mean to snap at you like that,” he apologized. “I’m working through something and I will need you soon, I’m sure.” 

She wasn’t convinced so the Doctor put his hand on her upper arm. “I will let you know.” 

“Just talk to me,” Eva’s brown eyes shone with love for the Doctor-something he’d seen many times from Sarah and almost hated to see it now. If it wasn’t for him she could have an ordinary life with her family. “remember I’ll always be there for you.” her voice grew softer. 

“I appreciate it,” his smile was empty and they both knew it. “I just need to be alone for a few days.” 

“I understand. Maybe I’ll use that time to catch up on my sleep.” Eva did not like the prospect of spending her days alone. She had been coping with her latest attack of depression and found the nighttimes were particularly cruel to her. The medium had been sleeping in catnaps recently, just long enough so she was rested but not long enough for her nightmares to come back and get her. She’d tried to cover up her fatigue with makeup which seemed to work to a degree; the Doctor hadn’t said anything about it. 

“You haven’t been sleeping well?” he was surprised. “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“It’s just come on this past week since we left that graveyard planet,” exhaling, Eva sat down. “I keep getting the dreams where the ghosts come back and haunt me. It’s not horror movie worthy but it keeps me up every other night which is driving me batty.” 

That was not a lie. Eva had been seeing ghosts wandering in her dreams which had been plaguing her every other night. She’d been having recurrent nightmares that she was one of them, trapped in a jar forever. The Doctor forgot about his grief over Sarah as he concern for Eva took over for a moment. He drew her up from her chair, closed one hand around her wrist, pressing his fingers to her pulse, which was normal. Eva gazed into his eyes when he wasn’t looking, seeing that mourning was very prominent in them so she put her hand on the side of his face. “I can’t help but be a little worried about you.” 

“I’ll be fine,” the Doctor told her, breaking contact gently. “excuse me.” 

“Course,” Eva watched him leave, plainly seeing he had the invisible weight of grief on his shoulders. “oh Doctor, I wish I could help you but you have to come to me.” the medium felt the TARDIS’s concern as well and the ship seemed to comfort Eva’s troubled mind in a way, giving her a little warmth. 

**

The first day of no contact with each other, Eva sat at her vanity, looking depressed. Humans and even Time Lords were social creatures so to be separated from each other was putting her in a depressed state as well. When the medium had been depressed before usually the Doctor picked up on it and would come in to distract her. Unfortunately he wanted to be alone to grieve so she was left out in the cold. 

“Damn,” she whispered to herself. “I can’t be motivated to put on makeup today..” the new setting spray and primer lay forgotten among her brushes and palettes as the medium moved away. She kept her pajama pants on with an old navy t-shirt, put her feet into her black clogs, then went down to the TARDIS library in hopes of drowning her feelings in a book. 

Rummaging around in a dusty old shelf, a leather bound book fell out right in front of her. Eva picked it up; there was no author or title on the book. “What is this then?” she found references to Sontarans, Zygons, something called a Krynoid, then a planet called Kastria. “I think this would be very interesting reading.” the medium suspected that the TARDIS had caused the book to fall but she ignored everything else, curling up on the sofa and starting to read. 

“Sarah Jane somehow got into the system and was processed into the ark. The image of her lying in a comatose state rather gave me a start...” Eva read on, oblivious to everything else. She forgot about lunch and supper until she reached the end of the book. When she realized how long it had been, she went to the kitchen for a snack, replaced the book, then went back to her room, not realizing the Doctor had been watching her. 

The Doctor had been passing the day in almost the same manner. He had been replaying the memories of Sarah in his mind, reliving the old days when they had fun together. Memories were priceless; he then recalled when he came across her in his tenth form, he’d asked her to travel with him again but she had declined, knowing it wasn’t going to be like old times. 

Unlike Eva he’d hadn’t forgotten lunch and supper. The Doctor would have liked talking to her a little bit but he remembered he’d requested a few days off to put himself back together and Eva had honored that. Late that night he’d heard her coming back to her room so he got up to look at her as she re-entered her bedroom. Eva hadn’t bothered to change out of her pajamas, a telltale sign to him that she was entering into her depression again. The medium didn’t notice him as she went into her room, leaving the door ajar like she usually did which gave him a little comfort. 

Flashes of Clara and Bill came to him then, making him sigh. “Oh Eva…,” the Doctor hung his head as tears started to form in the corners of his eyes. “What am I doing to you?” he peered into the dark bedroom as his companion had settled down to sleep. 

The Doctor crept into the room, eyes adjusting to the dark, not knowing that Eva was awake and had known that he was right outside her door. She pretended to be asleep, feeling the Doctor sit down at the edge of her bed and brush the hair out of her eyes. “Eva.” was all he said. The medium could feel great sadness and mourning from her friend. Her heart went out to him but she had to maintain the fiction that she was asleep. 

Eva meant a lot to the Doctor and he would lay down his life for her all the while knowing she would willingly lay down her life for him. She would but he didn’t want her to of course. He remembered their recent adventure and how she had been in the late stages of hypothermia before he could get there to save her. But he did save her, the inner voice told him. Eva was alive because he’d gone out there and saved his friend. 

The Time Lord retired to his own room then, knowing sleep wasn’t going to come for him anytime soon because he could not turn off his mind. The TARDIS had to intervene then; sending him some alpha waves to make his sleep restful. 

”Eva! Stay with me!” the Doctor brought the prone form of his friend into the console room, lying her down near the floor vent. “I’ll get you out of here!” she was so cold. The TARDIS dematerialized, the Doctor tried to give Eva some of the heat he naturally generated but it was no use. Eva’s body rejected it and with a soft sigh, the medium died. “Eva! NO!”

The Doctor woke up in a cold sweat, gasping, twin hearts beating madly. He controlled his breathing, trying to keep himself calm and fighting the urge to go and check on his friend. 

“She’s probably fine,” he dismissed his concern. “deep in a dreamless sleep.” the Doctor tried to go back to sleep, not knowing that Eva had actually shared the dream with him and was too distressed to go back to sleep. 

**

The next day the Doctor tried working through his grief more, keeping himself secluded. He’d had many good times with Sarah, she would not be forgotten but he still had a lot of unresolved feelings to work through. Right at that point he was trying to decide if it would still be safe to keep Eva traveling with him. The medium worked hard, she was invaluable, her experience as a nurse kept her pretty down to earth and empathetic. 

Lying on his bed fully dressed, the Doctor spent a lot of the day locked in his own thoughts of Sarah, letting the tears roll down his cheeks. Intermingled with his thoughts of Sarah was Clara and of course Bill. Clara had a little too much confidence in the Doctor’s ability to fix things so she inadvertently became the target for an alien. She bravely met her end at the hands of the alien but the scream she gave out just before she died haunted the Doctor. He would never forget it-the piercing scream, the black smoke that issued from her, her body collapsing in the alley. The Doctor had gone back to the TARDIS and beat the console until he was physically tired. 

Bill was a different story. The Doctor liked her because she was very intelligent, precocious and while not exactly keen to travel with him had brought new life to his explorations. She had been fatally injured, brought to a hospital and there she had recovered somewhat. Bill had been turned into a Cyberman but the emotional inhibitor the other Cybermen had gotten she did not receive. The Doctor knew it had been a living hell for her but she’d stayed loyal to him. Bill had brought the Doctor to one of the solar farms so he could recover from his injuries, stayed by his side while he fought off more Cybermen who tried to attack. The Doctor wasn’t clear on how he’d made it back to his TARDIS after getting hurt but he thought he’d heard Bill’s voice. She had given him a kiss on the forehead which healed his injuries. 

Then the Doctor had gone to a coffeehouse where he met Eva. He liked her empathy, the intelligence she brought, and even though she was impulsive and tended to be reckless, the Doctor had counseled her a little bit on reining it in. Eva had imbibed a little of his personality, trying to think more before she spoke and usually asking more questions in order to help him decide on what to do. The Time Lord had to smile a little bit to himself, but the smile grew dark because he remembered that due to him, she had been put in danger. 

“Eva.. I could not live with myself if I put you in danger again..” he whispered to himself, remembering her cold body lying on the TARDIS floor. The medium had been so lifeless he was afraid she’d already died but through symbolically sharing his heat with her it had brought her back to life. Time Lords always ran hot, and Eva had given him the gift of a direct link to her own mind in return. 

“You clever, clever girl,” the Doctor admired Eva greatly; it took a lot of guts to be an intensive care nurse and stick with it for so long like she did. His knowledge of medicine was augmented by her, she never failed to take a chance to teach him what she knew. “nurse Eva.” 

At the same time, Eva was a mess. Her depressed state had grown exponentially, being a prisoner of her own mind. With too much time on her hands at the moment, she remembered her friend who had laid down his life for his duty. The medium sat on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands, reliving the nightmare of his funeral, his bereaved family, the graveside service. That day had been such a black one in her memory she hoped to never see another day where someone she loved died. 

“Doctor..” Eva whimpered, raising her head up. Suddenly she felt numb. Wanting to ground herself in some way, she glanced around, seeing her Swiss Army knife peeking out of her purse pocket. The medium had struggled with depression her life and was an admitted self harmer. There were a few self harm marks on her arms but those had faded to white with time and were not noticeable. Picking up the knife she opened up the small blade, snapped it into place, then cut a thin two inch line. A thin rivulet of blood beaded up to the surface so Eva went into the bathroom, grabbed the hydrogen peroxide and trickled a bit of it onto the cut. The pain flared and burned as she closed her eyes. 

The Doctor had heard her from across the hall as he was getting up. Going over to Eva’s bedroom he poked his head in to ask if she needed him but saw her lying asleep. “You’ve lost some color,” the Doctor noted, taking a blanket and putting it over her. Lifting up her wrist to tuck the blanket in more securely his thumb grazed over a raw spot and Eva grimaced, sucking in her breath sharply as she slept. “what happened to you?” 

Turning her wrist over the Doctor got his answer. At first he thought that she had mistakenly cut herself but the line was done with intention. The Doctor turned pale himself, swore, then studied Eva’s face. “So my seclusion brought back on a recurrence of your depression?” he knew she had self harmed before, she didn’t like it but she explained that she needed physical pain to calm herself down. The Doctor noted that she looked exhausted yet thought she had been sleeping each night. 

The Doctor’s natural concern for Eva started taking back over. She was sick and he wanted to help her fix it. First off he would attend Sarah Jane’s funeral; he felt that she would want him there. Then he had to come back and take care of his friend. 

“I need to make sure she won’t hurt herself while I’m gone,” the Doctor thought that her natural exhaustion would keep her asleep for a long time so he did not have any qualm about leaving for an hour or two. “sleep well, Eva.” his fingers brushed against her injury again while his mind started to worry. 

**

At the funeral for Sarah her adopted son was there, he gave a sweet compassionate speech on her, several people spoke, then the funeral was concluded. The Doctor saw several people from UNIT including Benton, but did not speak to any of them. As far as he was concerned it was several lifetimes ago. The graveside service was mercifully brief thought the Doctor did not fail to notice several people giving him odd looks throughout. 

When everyone had dispersed, the Doctor took a yellow rose from his pocket, gave it a little kiss, then tossed it down onto Sarah’s casket. “You’ll forever be my Sarah Jane.” he said in a husky voice. Her tombstone was in rose granite color, her name was etched on and gilded with a gold color, and on the stone was the north star. 

The Doctor went back to the TARDIS thinking sad thoughts. He furtively wiped his eyes as he walked into the console room, his hands grasping the handle switch of his monitor. “I could go back in time and get her..” The TARDIS didn’t seem to like that idea, refusing to work at all. “What’s the matter with you now?!” the Doctor bellowed in anger. 

“Doctor?” Eva appeared in her blue plaid pajama pants and yellow t-shirt. “What’s all the noise?” in the light of the console the medium looked washed out; the Doctor didn’t think that she slept at all since he’d been gone. 

“Oh,” he said foolishly. Eva’s hard soled clogs thudded on the platform as she walked over to him. “I didn’t think you’d be awake.” 

“I haven’t slept very well for a few days,” her eyes were red rimmed, making the Doctor wonder if she’d been crying as well. “lots on my mind.” 

“I daresay there has been,” the Doctor, not caring about how he came off to Eva, grabbed her wrist and held it up. “what were you thinking?” 

She was too tired to look embarrassed which was a bad sign. “I was just trying to feel something other than being numb.” the medium shrugged it off, too dazed and tired to care. 

“So you hurt yourself instead?” the Doctor was now angry with her but Eva did not care one bit. “What happens when you cut too deep next time?” 

“Then I bleed out and die,” he flinched visibly at her words. “but who gives two shits about me anyway? You don’t, not anymore. Maybe you should have just let me freeze to death in the first place,” stunned, the Doctor stared at her. Eva backed up, retreating to her room. “I should have died and spared you the burden of caring about me.” 

The Doctor sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He’d needed a few days to process his grief over Sarah Jane but Eva had told him her depression was particularly insidious; it crept in whenever it felt like it. She had no control over it at all. Helplessly the Doctor watched Eva retreat and disappear into her room. “I think it’s time to keep a watch over Eva and make sure she doesn’t hurt herself again.” the Doctor told the TARDIS. Not sure of what to do, the Doctor was feeling emotionally drained by the funeral so he had to go and lie down for awhile. 

**

Eva didn’t know what to do. During the past two days she’d become a prisoner of her mind with no end in sight. The Doctor was too absorbed in his own grief for Sarah so he wasn’t going to be a help to her. The medium glanced over at the picture of the Doctor and her she’d framed and put on the dresser. The Doctor had his arm around Eva’s shoulders, she was grinning and he had a smile on his face as well. They were both in front of the TARDIS, eager to go on the next big adventure, looking happy to be in each other’s company. 

“Feels like years ago,” the medium heaved a sigh, sitting on her lounge chair. “I’ve finally reached the point where I am too tired to cry anymore.” 

Eva stood up after a few minutes, focusing her psychic abilities on the Doctor. He’d gone to lie down and quickly fell asleep but he wasn’t having good dreams. Quietly she left her room, going to the Doctor’s, sitting down at his bedside, watching as his eyes twitched under their lids. From the sounds he’d been making and the little twitching going on, Eva could tell that they weren’t good dreams he was having. 

“Let me see if I can help you,” tentatively Eva reached out and put her fingertips at one of his temples, concentrating her energy to influence his dream and turn it positive. After a few moments his features relaxed which made Eva momentarily happy. She leaned down, kissing him on the cheek. “I’ll always love you, Doctor.” 

The Doctor turned his head in her direction as if he saw her there. Eva got up and left the room, feeling her inner darkness descend upon her again. She went into her room, pulled out a blank notebook and began to write all her conflicting feelings down. The Doctor was staying distant from her, she was frustrated with it and while she had nothing but her thoughts to keep her company; they had turned into a poison which dripped constantly in her soul, eroding her psyche. 

It was only midday so Eva wrote out her feelings, put the journal away, then went into the library to see if she could take her mind off of her depression. “What’s in here?” she glanced into another room where a piano and a Fender Telecaster was standing. A music stand was set up, an amp was plugged in, all very inviting to her. “Been a long time since I’ve played but I’ll try.” 

The medium picked up the Telecaster, adjusted the strap, then found a red pick lying on top of the amp. “Let’s see if music can heal my soul..” closing her eyes, Eva began to strum, her fingers going up and down the fretboard like she had been playing yesterday. She played the opening to Blue Oyster Cult’s Don’t Fear the Reaper and began to sing along to help her remember the song. 

When the song ended Eva smiled to herself, remembering that she had taught herself guitar when she was 8 years old, gotten in the school band and had been a prodigy. While she was in nursing school she had played gigs at night and even challenged herself to learn Brian May’s guitar work from the band she loved more than anything, Queen. She could play some piano as well but guitar was her forte. 

“Let me try one of Brian’s solos,” Eva concentrated on Who Wants To Live Forever, teasing the arpeggios and chords out of the guitar and smiling. “nice! Not a Brian May Guitar but decent.” 

Eva didn’t know it but the Doctor had been awakened by her playing and was outside the door, afraid to disrupt her concentration. He put one hand to the wall, his eyes increasingly sad, thinking about Sarah and how they used to joke around all the time. She had loved 70s music as well and was big on the rock scene. He had to leave the hallway as the memories flooded back, causing his eyes to tear up again. 

Three days later the Doctor went into the console room, tried to land the TARDIS somewhere but she refused to cooperate with him. Clearly the ship was telling him to make up with Eva, something that he didn’t really want to do but he had to. 

“You blasted machine, just do as I tell you!” 

“Doctor, do you think that machine is really going to obey you?” startled, he turned around. Eva was standing near him and in the lights he could see she looked even paler and more washed out than before. It was the first time he’d seen her close up for days so he could see she definitely hadn’t been sleeping well at all. 

“No, but I need to talk to you!” the Doctor took Eva’s wrist, inspecting it for his own curiosity. The cut mark had healed, he grabbed the other wrist where he noted a fresh mark. “You’ve hurt yourself again!” blue eyes peering into brown he found himself at a loss for words for a moment. Eva’s eyes held depression in their depths but also a sense of hopelessness. “Why would you keep doing this to yourself?!”

The blood drained from Eva’s face and she snapped her wrist back while a cold rage flew into her eyes. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand this, Doctor,” the medium said in a cool tone that oozed with venom. “you don’t understand anything about humans; you think that I can be easily fixed. I am not like the others you traveled with before.” 

“Of that much I am painfully clear!” he retorted. 

“Crystal clear, I’m sure! Anyway I know you’re grieving for your friend which is understandable but I had hoped you wouldn’t forget me, Doctor! I may be a puny human but I need affection, a companion, someone to talk to! You’ve changed so much and I swear we’re just shipmates now! I know you’ve lost a friend, but,” Eva looked him square in the eye, putting one hand on his shoulder. “I didn’t know I was going to lose one too!” 

The blow had fallen. The Doctor was completely bewildered now as Eva’s eyes teared up. “I never thought you’d leave me hanging like this, cold and alone! I guess the both of us can say now that we’re officially dead inside!” Eva turned and left the console room with tears streaming down her face. The medium shut her door and sat down on the floor with her back to it for a long moment, crying noiselessly. 

When she felt like she’d cried herself out, Eva got up, went to the bathroom, then ran a damp washcloth over her face to make her feel better. Her little outburst had cost her physically as she barely had the energy to go into the bedroom and lie down on her bed. Glancing up to the ceiling Eva was surprised; the TARDIS had put a glowing night sky up there for her to look at and admire. The light was dim so she could sleep if she needed to but her mind was going a mile a minute and it looked like sleep would not come to her eyes any time soon. 

“Come back to me, Doctor.” was all she said, closing her eyes. 

The Doctor slammed his hand down on the console, letting his friend’s words sink in fully. He’d been acting like an ass towards her, more or less pretending that she wasn’t there and being fully self absorbed in his own grief for Sarah. “Damn, she’s right!” when Sarah died she’d also taken a piece of the Doctor with her as well. The Doctor took his hands off the console, knowing now that he had to keep taking care of Eva. She was more vulnerable to her emotions than a lot of others but the Doctor wrote that off to her being only human. 

Eva had been upfront with him from the start, telling him that she was prone to depressive episodes which to him was surprising. She didn’t have a temperamental nature at all and he didn’t know what would have caused her to be so prone to depression in the first place. Usually the TARDIS was super sensitive to his companions’ moods and the ship would have signaled him when Eva wasn’t feeling like herself. 

The Doctor turned an accusing stare to the time rotor column. “Why didn’t you tell me she was sick?” 

No response but the Doctor realized that the TARDIS had been warning him-he’d been too immersed in grief to realize it. Irritated now, the Doctor left the room and went to Eva’s door. Applying his ear to the wood, he heard a faint voice say, “Come back to me, Doctor.” 

“Damn, Eva, I will!” he knocked on the door. “Eva, we need to talk.” 

**

Eva was startled to see the Doctor come into her room but decided to spare him. “I’m sorry, Doctor, I didn’t mean to lose it like that.” 

He sat on the edge of her bed with a faint chuckle. “It was something that needed to be said, Eva. If anyone should be apologizing it’s me. I have been ignoring you while grieving for Sarah and I can see how your physical health has suffered,” Eva was pale, had bags under her eyes; the Doctor thought she looked fragile. “to say nothing of your mental health.” 

Finally a little acknowledgment! Eva thought to herself. “I don’t know what to say now.” 

“You don’t have to say anything,” he encouraged her. “I’m going to heal your mind but first I want to make sure you didn’t damage your body permanently. Lie still now,” the sonic sunglasses were put to use as he took a full body scan of Eva. “your body shows signs of stress induced fatigue; that’s nothing a good long sleep won’t cure.” 

“What about the dreams?” she was almost afraid to ask. 

“Unsettling ones? Well, I can fix that.” the Doctor was about to move away from her side when Eva took his hand. 

“Doctor, please don’t leave,” she said in a scared little girl voice. “stay with me.” 

“I’ll stay. First off I want you to completely relax.” the Doctor sat on the other side of Eva, propped up by her pillow with his hands held up slightly. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Do you trust me?” 

“Of course.” 

“Then just relax,” the Doctor gave Eva hypnotic suggestions, telling her that she would have a nice dreamless sleep ahead of her. The medium believed him, letting her fatigue wash over her as the Doctor’s fingers at her temples pressed down gently. He planted a hypnotic suggestion in her mind that she was much more tired than she let on so Eva submitted easily. “you’ll wake up feeling refreshed in your mind and body.” 

As soon as Eva had achieved dreamless sleep the Doctor took his fingers off her temples then got up and went to the other side of the bed, dragging over the comfortable armchair she had in her reading corner. As he slid the chair over he noticed the glint of a pocketknife poking out from a purse strap. “That’s how she’s been doing it.” he toyed with the idea of taking it until she was mentally sound again but decided against it, thinking that would tell her that he didn’t trust her. 

The Doctor left then brought in some tea and a snack for himself, intending to camp out with Eva until she woke up. “I’m sorry love, I didn’t realize how my actions would hurt you, intentional or not.” 

Some time later Eva woke up and felt refreshed; something she hadn’t felt in over a week now. She turned over to see the Doctor was in her armchair, drawing something in a notepad he’d found. He glanced at her for a moment then a little smile brightened up his face. 

“Hey, how are you doing?” a quick scan with the sonic sunglasses and the Doctor was satisfied. He leaned over a little bit to see Eva better. “Feel like yourself again?” 

“Yeah,” she admitted. “how long was I out?” 

“Well, let’s see.. we started having words around 1 PM, I put you to sleep at 1:30 and you’ve slept for almost 8 hours.” 

“Well, that takes care of me,” Eva sat up, noticing the Doctor had put his peacoat over her to help keep her warm. “now we take care of you.” 

“Me?” 

“Don’t look so confused,” she smiled briefly. “why didn’t you come to me with your grief? I could have helped you.” 

“Eva, you’re too young to know-” 

“Doctor, I’ve lost people close to me,” Eva told him gently. “I know what grief is and I’m not really young anymore. I lost my best friend a few years ago and I-” she paused. “I lost my daughter when I was 28 years old.” 

The Doctor’s shocked blue eyes seemed to pierce into hers. She’d never said anything about it before and Eva had to smile a bit at his expression. “I never said anything before because it brings back unpleasant memories.” 

“How?” he never would have guessed that Eva had been a mother. 

“She was born premature and had lung problems right from the start,” Eva explained. “there were a few days when I thought she was improving but it wasn’t the case. She developed a fatal infection and died 3 days after birth.” 

“Eva, I’m so sorry,” the Doctor moved over to hug her. “the loss must have been monumentally devastating.” 

“It was crushing but I worked my way through it. We both have suffered much, Doctor, so why don’t you confide in me? I’ll know how to empathize if nothing else. I was a nurse after all. I know what suffering is and I can help. Next time, just talk to me. Don’t sequester yourself away and grieve alone.” 

“Point taken,” the Doctor felt Eva lay her head on his shoulder. “it’s you I worry about. You were very sick and even though it’s all mental it could happen again at any time.” 

“How about I just tell you when I feel it coming on? Long story short I thought you were pulling away from me, I got depressed and let it consume me like your grief consumed you.” 

“Deal.” the Doctor wrapped his arm around her and held her tight. 

“Now it has been my experience that talking about it really helps. So, tell me some stories about Sarah Jane. I’d like to hear more.” 

“Oh, for that, girl, I hope you have a lot of time to listen.” 

“Come on then. Shoes off, lie down with me on the bed,” the Doctor did so, propping himself up with his elbow on the bed, hand on the side of his head like they were having a sleepover. “so what was she like as a person?” 

“Sarah Jane Smith was a journalist...” the Doctor began. Eva hung on to his every word, enjoying the stories he told her. The medium was the perfect audience for him, laughing in the right places, asking what happened next, showing all the right expressions in the right places. 

“You interrupted her wedding? Oh, Doctor, you didn’t!” 

“I did. I was regenerating and in a frenzy of energy didn’t realize what I was doing,” the Doctor smirked. “it was wrong of me and the last time I ever saw her.” 

“I’m sure she loved you with her last breath, Doctor. You’re unforgettable.” 

“Yes.. see, you all love me then you seem to just drift away or die horribly.” that slipped out before he knew what he was saying. 

“Doctor,” Eva took his hands and made him sit up. “circumstances change. You can’t save the galaxy no matter how hard you try. You can’t predict human nature either. We don’t know what each new adventure will bring us so why worry about it? Just keep doing the best that you can.” 

“But so many die because of me!” he was getting worked up again. 

“Stop,” Eva commanded, putting her hands on his. “you can’t tell the future no matter what you do. Everyone dies sometime. You inspire people, Doctor. Did you not know this? You lead by example, being a moral compass for people or civilizations, and people come to embody your leadership. You are uncompromising, a wonderful Time Lord, and a good friend. People give up their lives for yours knowing that you’ll carry on and keep going to keep their legacies alive. Sarah Jane may be gone now but you’ll keep her spirit alive in those hearts of yours.” the Doctor’s eyes grew glassy as he watched Eva. 

“You told me about her now I can help you guard her memory,” Eva continued sweetly. “you are so loved, Doctor, across galaxies and millenia alike. All of you always will be.” 

“Damn,” the Doctor swore as Eva gave him a smile. “how is it you know the right thing to say?” he furtively swiped at his eyes. 

“Love is key, Doctor,” the medium reassured him. “we live to love. You’re getting tired so why don’t you go to sleep now? I’ll look after you like you looked after me.” 

“Right,” the Doctor was too tired to argue so he slipped his shoes off, settling in beside Eva. “maybe sleeping next to you will help give me a better peace of mind.” 

“I hope it does. You deserve it,” just then a white light entered into the room, making Eva look up and gasp. “um, Doctor, can you see this?” The Doctor narrowed his eyes at the white light which materialized the spirit form of Sarah Jane. “She’s back.” 

“What?”

“After you got the news she appeared to me and told me to look after you.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“You never gave me a chance to. Do you see her?” 

“Sarah?” it was still a little bright so the form dimmed a little bit. “Sarah Jane?” 

“Doctor!” Sarah looked like she always had, clad in her usual skirt, boots and colorful blouse. “I just had to see you, one more time before I left with my Doctor. I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to you.” the ghostly form moved over to the Doctor, kissing him on the cheek. The Doctor stared, awestruck by Sarah. “You take good care of him, Eva.” she backed away. 

“I will, Sarah,” Eva promised. “you take your Doctor and go have fun!” 

“The whole universe is ready to be explored! Remember, Doctor, love is the key, just like Eva said. I’ll never forget you and I’ll be in your dreams sometimes. Don’t ever change.” 

“Never, Sarah Jane.” was all the Doctor could say. With brimming eyes he and Eva watched Sarah’s spirit dissolve and leave the TARDIS. Eva glanced at the Doctor who had buried his face in his hands, giving in to his sorrow. 

“Oh Doctor,” Eva sighed, rubbing his back. “it hurts so much to let someone go. Just let it out.” he allowed her to slip her arms around him as he cried. 

When the Doctor had cried himself out, Eva’s nursing instincts came on full force. She mopped his face, made him lie back, then told him to close his eyes. 

“You need to rest, Doctor,” she got on the bed next to him. “just this once let me take care of you.” 

Eva spooned the Doctor, draping one hand over his shoulder as he closed his eyes. Reaching out he grasped her hand, holding it to him. He kissed her hand affectionately as the sweet bliss of sleep stretched out over his conscious mind. 

**

The Doctor woke up several hours later, turning to see Eva looking at him, no trace of depression in her eyes, just eagerness and good humor. A surge of energy rushed through him, all apathy and mourning forgotten so he leaned over and put a kiss on Eva’s lips, shocking her. 

“Good morning, sweetie!” he teased. “Ready for breakfast?” 

“Feeling much better are we?” Eva laughed. “Ready when you are.” 

“Go put some makeup on!” the Doctor seemed to bounce out of bed. Sarah’s apparition had apparently given him the absolution that he desperately needed, with Eva’s words giving him fresh comfort. When Eva appeared in the console room with a fresh new look he beamed a smile at her. The medium had put on an eye look that reminded him of a constellation; glitter was on the inner corners and reached out like starry night sky. 

“So where are we headed today?” Eva asked. The TARDIS lurched suddenly, making the occupants grab onto the railings. The Doctor glanced at the monitor. 

“What tickles your fancy?” 

“I want to know more about the science of dreams, Doctor. Maybe a well known dream institute or something,” Eva suggested, her eyes falling on his guitar. “I didn’t know you played.” 

The Doctor plugged in coordinates for a dream research institute and gave her a blank look, pressing the materialization switch. “What?” 

Eva picked up the guitar, adjusting the strap with a grin. “Hey, give that back!” 

“And now ladies and gentlemen, and freakish aliens alike,” Eva dodged the Doctor. “a rendition of White Queen As It Began guitar solo from their Live At The Odeon album!” she struck the chords with flair, kneeling down and pointing the guitar up like Chuck Berry. The Doctor watched, amazed as Eva played with panache. 

“Bravo!” he said when she stopped. “Now gimmie my guitar!” she laughed and handed it to him. Both of them heard a loud thump which meant the TARDIS had arrived. Putting his guitar back, the Doctor asked Eva if she was ready for a new adventure. 

“Try to stop me!”


	4. Dreaming

Dreaming

“So let’s see where we can go t-” the Doctor was overcome for a moment with pain in his head as the TARDIS cloister bell rang once. Eva glanced up into the time rotors, not knowing that was going on. She rushed over to the Doctor, supporting him as his knees buckled. A blinding white hot pain seared through his head accompanied by a flash of brown eyes and someone calling his name. 

“What is it, Doctor?” the medium asked, helping him stand up. “Do you need me to do something?” 

The Doctor grunted in pain as he stood himself back up, taking Eva’s hands and guiding her over to the TARDIS console. “I want you to stick your fingers in there and here,” Eva winced slightly as her fingers sank down into spongy like material which was strangely warm. “and concentrate, think of a sleep institute.” 

“What’s going on with you? What are you seeing in your mind?” 

“I don’t know myself,” he punched the materialization button. “random flashes more like.” 

“I’d need more info than that-it could be anything.” Eva concentrated under the Doctor’s blue gaze. The TARDIS chugged back into life which made him smile a little bit. His companion was often times very hyperfocused, very detail oriented and motivated. “I never thought that I could access the TARDIS like this. She feels..” 

“Feels like what?” a little smile of pride overcame him for a moment. Eva grinned a little bit as a warmth teased her fingers, like the TARDIS itself was saying hello. 

“It feels right. She feels gentle and comforting, kind of like a mom.” 

“The only one of my companions who has ever truly understood the TARDIS!” the Doctor proclaimed, biting back a grunt as another flash penetrated his mind. His hands clutched one of the switches like his life depended on it, turning the knuckles white. The Doctor exhaled, trying to keep his breathing steady while the image of blood running down someone’s mouth ebbed and faded. 

“Nice to have a badge of honor of some sort,” Eva kept her hands in place as the TARDIS started to materialize. “is this a place you have ever been before?” the TARDIS landed with its familiar bump so she removed her hands from the interface, noting they weren’t slimy. Not knowing what to think she crossed over to the coat rack, flipping through her jackets for one that would be appropriate. 

The Doctor glanced up at the screen that showed the threshold just outside the TARDIS door. “I don’t believe so, no.” he pulled on his black peacoat as Eva took out her black leather jacket and walked on over to her friend, thrusting her arms into the fabric and buttoning up. 

“It’s not very cold here. How about a nice stroll through the city square?” the Doctor asked casually, standing at the doors to the TARDIS. 

“Why not?” Eva smiled happily. The Doctor noted that she was wearing a peachy color lipstick that day; something that she rarely did. “Yes, I found a new lippie in the back of the vanity drawer. It’s called Electric Coral.” she noticed him staring as they opened up the doors. The late evening sun touched their shoulders as they began to walk down a pathway under some maple trees. 

“Lippie? You humans,” the Doctor rolled his eyes as Eva laughed, taking out a pair of aviator sunglasses and popping them on. “nice but not as nice as mine!” the sonic sunglasses made an appearance as they walked into the bright autumn world. 

“This is such a welcome relief from the white coldness of that death planet!” Eva kicked aside some stray leaves as they walked into the city square. “Bit odd.” 

“Almost anything is better than the death planet,” the Doctor grimly said. The city square was oddly geometric; random pillars of crystalline material that reflected different colors. “someone really wanted to show off.” 

Eva and the Doctor walked on a flag stone path up to a central fountain. The stones were all of different colors; from a large square rose up a jet of water, three feet high, falling into a stone pool with a mirrored bottom. “Very nice but not extravagant,” the Doctor kicked at the pool wall for a moment then as they passed by the crystalline sculpture he kicked at the base which resulted in the whole structure wobbling. 

“What? Is that a hologram?” the structure went fuzzy and blinked. 

“Really? Why would they do that,” the Doctor mused, already thinking something was wrong with the planet. 

“Look around you,” Eva turned to see the buildings were of all different colors but a little dingy; like someone hadn’t bothered to do proper upkeep. “like a city falling from splendor.” 

“Yeah, I see it now,” the medium saw nobody was out and about either. “either the citizens have moved on to a new prosperous city or they’ve been felled by disease. Is it safe for us to be out here?” 

“The TARDIS would have warned us if there was disease rampant. Anyway I think we need to go in this direction.” the Doctor and Eva turned onto a brick sidewalk and looked up to see a three story building; the only one not in disrepair. Eva walked steadily, making sure that she wasn’t clutching the Doctor’s arm like a scared girl. All around them were buildings fading, crumbling, a few stray dogs wandered nearby. On the street were a few abandoned vehicles and that was it. 

“I’m getting a very unsettling feeling, Doctor,” Eva admitted, clearing her mind. “something’s not right.” 

“I know that.. what’s that sense of yours telling you?” he pursed his lips, not liking the atmosphere of the derelict city. Still curious about Eva’s abilities the Doctor watched as she closed her eyes and concentrated. 

“Well,” the medium picked up on a feeling of distress. “it’s a natural disaster. I think meteors came near the city and everyone was too scared to come back.” Eva saw flashes of meteors coming close to the city, felt and saw seismic tremors upon impact and people screaming. 

“Your powers continue to amaze me,” the Doctor walked with Eva over to the front door of the big building. “the aptly named Sleep Institute of the Andromeda Galaxy.” 

“Not simple to say.” Eva remarked as she walked in. The Doctor, holding the door for her, had another pain in his head and a flash of something he didn’t understand. It was a dark landscape, foggy, and a sensation of someone falling. 

“Doctor?” he blinked and looked at Eva right in front of him. She seized his hand and closed her eyes, seeing the flash he’d just endured. “We’ve got to get you seen right away. This is going to keep weakening you until you crack up completely. You there,” Eva walked over to the front desk. “my friend here needs help-he’s got an issue with his mind. I think it’s a sleep pattern disturbance.” 

The receptionist looked up. His nametag read Sean and he was definitely human; fair skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. “Is he? I’ll summon the specialist for you.” 

“Thank you.” apart from the Doctor’s issue, Eva would have liked the institute. The lobby was done in vivid colors, an umbrella plant stood in one corner and had murals painted on one wall. Eva wondered if it was a dreamscape as it was all in monochrome. She passed her hands over the mural, lost in thought for a moment. 

The Doctor groaned and put a hand to his temple. “They’re getting worse,” he grunted. “a woman’s scream and brown eyes staring at me, a sensation of falling...” 

“Shit, Doctor. Come on.” a human in blue scrubs, this one a female named Janet came over to them. Eva grabbed the Doctor’s hands, forcing him to concentrate on human contact that he didn’t like, which made him straighten up. He glared at Eva, who knew that he didn’t like human contact at all but she gave him the hint of a smug grin. Irritation boiled up in him which forced the mental images from his mind. 

“I’m Janet,” the specialist introduced herself. “you are?” 

“I’m the Doctor.” a sudden violent flash came to his mind, this time one of blood, closed eyes and his own scream. The Doctor’s knees buckled again, making Janet and Eva put him in a wheelchair. The specialist quickly took him, followed by Eva, down the hall into a treatment room. 

“I’m Eva Barnes, a nurse and medium,” Eva told the specialist, standing in front of the Doctor, leaning over and drawing him up by hooking her arms around him under his armpits. The Doctor was too immersed in the painful image to react to her so the medium steered him over to the bed while the specialist guided her. “he’s been like this for about a day-just randomly stopping what he’s doing and pausing while images flash before him. I thought he was becoming a medium like me but now I don’t think so.” she brushed a hand over his brow. The Doctor shut his eyes and stopped listening to them to try to concentrate on the image and see what it was about. 

Janet held up a small rectangular device and waved it over the Doctor. “He’s not physically ill so yeah, it’s definitely in his head. What you’re describing to me sounds like a repressed memory. Something wants to surface but it can’t. He’s confused and doesn’t know what to think. Sometimes they’re very powerful images that want to break through.” 

“Makes sense I have to admit.” Eva took the Doctor’s peacoat off of him, took off his shoes then put them in a locker in the corner. The medium took off her leather jacket, hung it up, then knotted the tails of her button up shirt. 

“You said you’re a medium?” Janet put her vital signs device away in her pocket. 

“I am.” Eva was confused. 

“I think that if you help him to relax and let the memory through it will help him cope.” 

“How do I do that?” the specialist gestured for Eva to join the Doctor on the big bed which she did, taking off her shoes. Janet flipped down a panel just behind the bed, keyed in a code, then an instrument panel was revealed. She took a pair of electrodes, attached them to the Doctor’s temples, then took an identical pair for Eva. 

“This is a brainwave merging device,” the Doctor’s eyes opened up as Janet talked. “what I am going to do is connect you to our alpha brainwave analyzer which will then merge Eva’s sleeping alpha waves with yours, Doctor, and she’ll be able to give you help.” 

“She and I have a telepathic link,” the Doctor remembered. “remember, Eva? You gave it to me by-” he cut himself off, turning a little pink in the cheeks. Eva gave him an amused smile while she glanced up at Janet. “no, I won’t have you putting yourself at risk because of me.” 

“There goes that silly bravado masculine thing you’ve got going on. Honestly Doctor, you’ve got a saving people complex. The best thing for you and me is to do it this way.” she firmly told him, relaxing back and adjusting a pillow. 

“You’re not putting yourself at risk because of me!” the Doctor ordered her. “How about I just leave you here after we’re done?” 

Eva chuckled as Janet put the electrodes on her temples, staring at the Doctor, a look of determination on her face. “I’ve dealt with far more difficult patients than you so your threats don’t work on me. I’m not fazed in the least, Doctor.” 

“You can’t do this-”

“Respect my free will, Doctor!” Eva snapped. “Bite the hand that feeds you or wants to help you, huh? We’ll continue this conversation later. Now I have a job to do and so do you.” inwardly the Doctor gave up as another flash cut short his rebuttal. 

“She’s a plucky one at that,” Janet brushed aside her long red hair as she went to the control panel near the door and adjusted the lights. “we’ve got mood lighting here and the room is going to fill a little bit with a very mild sleeping gas. It will take several minutes to affect you two so enjoy some downtime.” 

“OK and will you be monitoring the device?” 

“I’ll be in the control booth just over there to keep an eye on you two.” Eva could see a control booth behind a set of rather tacky brown curtains. The room started to darken as Janet wished them luck and went into the booth, drawing the curtains shut behind her. 

The Doctor exhaled quietly, lying back. He turned his head a little bit to look at his friend who was staring back at him. Even though she’d only been with him a few short months, he already owed her a debt of gratitude. Eva meant a lot to him even if he never said as much. But she was a smart lady, knowing that his little gestures-taking her hand, offering her his arm, even brushing her hair back from her eyes when she was asleep-were indicative of the fact the Doctor cared about her. She liked him back of course, allowing him to take her hand, tricking him into jamming with her on the guitar, even her cooking. The Doctor was a compulsive snacker, always stuffing his pockets with something to eat. 

A soft hiss was heard. Eva started but realized that it was the sleep gas slowly infiltrating into the room. The Doctor could see his friend in the blue lights of the monitor behind them, a very low blue glow but he was able to discern her features dimly. 

“Doctor? This is really strange.” she said with a slight smile. 

“I can go through it alone, Eva I want you to-” he cut himself off, remembering. He’d nearly said the same thing to Eva as he had to Clara; I should have kept you safe. Knowing that Eva would retaliate again and reiterate her free will to help, the Doctor just sighed. It was always a lost cause with his companions; they’d gladly put themselves in harm’s way because of him. While Eva argued that it was love and loyalty, the Doctor thought it was just tit for tat. 

“No, I don’t want that. You’ve been there for me and I will be there for you,” Eva was stern. “you know, most life forms would be happy to have a friend that goes to bat for them. Do you really have a gratitude problem or a saving people kind of complex?”

“Complex?” he narrowed his eyes in the dim light. Eva blinked at him slowly; getting a little bit sleepy but she could still talk. 

“Yeah, we call it the Superman complex. Some people just like saving others, sacrificing themselves and whatnot. You’re very gallant but you need to acknowledge when you need help and ask for it.” Eva’s hand found his, giving him a little reassuring caress. 

The Doctor would never admit it but he knew she was right. It had been awhile since he had a companion since Bill died and he didn’t think that he wanted one but once Eva had picked him out in a coffee shop his interest in her had spiked. He knew what she meant to him though he didn’t dare mention it but he could sense that Eva pretty much already knew. The medium watched the Doctor for a moment, then closed her eyes with a little sigh. 

“Eva, I-” he stopped, seeing that his companion had fallen asleep already. “you are an easy sleeper. I prefer seeing you asleep as opposed to being unconscious.” the Doctor whispered, noting how the lines in her face were nonexistent. Often times in the TARDIS he’d be doing maintenance on his ship and Eva was usually sitting in a lounger on the upper level reading a book. Often times she would fall asleep; either from the book or the gentle motion of the TARDIS and she would sleep for several hours at a stretch. 

“I suppose here we go..” fighting the gas for a moment, the Doctor reached over and picked up Eva’s hand, the reassuring pulse beats of his friend soothing him. Eva was solid, steady and reliable as a companion; just what he needed, the Doctor thought. The sleeping gas began to take effect on him, he closed his eyes reluctantly, Eva’s heartbeat giving him more reassurance. 

**

*”Doctor?” Eva blinked, finding herself standing in a barren looking meadow with several scorch marks. “Where are we?” the Time Lord found himself standing a few feet in front of her. Both looked up into the sky, seeing that it was gray and rather ominous looking. They could smell something acrid, smoke, and the atmosphere was one of desolation and destruction. 

“Eva!” the Doctor crossed over to where the medium was standing. “I look different in this memory-there I am.” both of them knew that they could talk to each other and interact only with each other. It was a memory of a past event; they couldn’t interfere with it. 

“Wow,” Eva could see a taller Doctor with a scarf and curly hair. “I can’t complain-you’re tall enough to me.” 

“Gee, thanks,” he snorted. “follow him.” 

“Right.” they walked behind the memory Doctor who traversed among furrows in the dirt by heavy machinery. The smell of gunpowder and soot was in the air, and there was a faint cry in the distance, something like whooping. 

“Is it coming clear for you now? What are we looking at?” Eva prompted him as they walked through the muddy furrows. 

“I honestly don’t remember.” the Doctor frowned, concentrating hard but nothing was coming to him. 

“Come on, Doctor, something’s got to jog your memory free.” Eva nearly tripped over a big rock; the Doctor swore, grabbing her arm and helping her stand up. 

“We’re on a battleground which is nothing special. I’ve been on hundreds of them.” 

The memory Doctor paused on top of a hill, holding his hand to his eyes to view a little gully. “Sienna!” he barked, rich baritone voice ringing out against the hills and meadows. 

“Who’s Sienna?” the medium observed the memory Doctor looking into every crevice big enough to hide a human. At a small rock outcrop he looked under it then continued down the hill to the little gully. 

“An old traveling companion of mine.” the Doctor answered her, walking along as birds sang out overhead. Eva peered upwards, seeing a sky hazy with smoke lingering in the air, green muddy meadows which suggested to her that there had been an obvious battle in the not too distant past.

“What was she like?” maybe some innocent questions could jog his memory, Eva thought. 

“She looked a bit like you; same brown hair and eyes. She had a rough childhood; abandoned by her parents a few weeks after her birth, adoptive parents were indifferent towards her. Sienna was a little more impulsive, she always wore gunbelts and after the way she was brought up I didn’t really blame her. I forget the circumstances in which we met but she got to know me in about three of my lives.” 

“Three? Amazing.” they started down the hill carefully. 

“Well, there were more time slip ups back then,” the Doctor watched his 4th self walk down the hill and keep searching. “my eighth self found her and took her in, she found my 10th self and then traveled with this one. At first it was exciting but then a change seemed to come over her. We traveled briefly with her friend Danny, they got romantically involved and when it didn’t work she grew extremely depressed. I landed with her on this planet which was undergoing a civil war.” 

“Why did you land with her on a planet that had open warfare, Doctor?” 

“In those days I was summoned by the Time Lords and instructed to help a certain party. They leave me alone now,” he added. “they did that to me with the Daleks.” 

“Daleks?” 

“You’ll hopefully never meet them. But all I remember is landing here with Sienna and I don’t even recall leaving here. I must have been in shock.” 

“Um, I think we’re going to find out why. He seems to have found what he was looking for.” Eva nodded towards the memory Doctor. 

The memory Doctor looked behind a log wall riddled with gunfire then exclaimed, “Sienna!” the Doctor and Eva went over the wall, seeing a young woman who had two bleeding gunshot wounds, one in her right shoulder and another in her left side. She was muddy, her gunbelts didn’t have her guns in them, and she had a particular note to her breathing which Eva recognized. 

“Oh god,” the Doctor whispered. “Eva, can she survive this?” he turned ghastly white at the sight of his past companion lying in a pool of her own blood. Sienna was completely unconscious by that point but when her Doctor spoke her name she showed signs of rousing. 

Eva glanced at her Doctor and shook her head. “I’m sorry, Doctor. She’s got the death rattle in her breathing. That abdominal bullet is very close to the abdominal aorta-she’s got only minutes left.” 

“Sienna!” the memory Doctor applied pressure to the abdominal wound, moving back Sienna’s matted hair from her bloody face. “Why would you join in something like this?! You knew it would fail!” 

“Doctor,” Sienna choked out. “better to go out like this… die in battle..” 

“Don’t talk like that! I can mend you.” it was a bald faced lie and everyone knew it. “There’s no reason you can’t live.” 

“My life was shit until you came along, Doctor.. I want you to promise me something.” 

“W-what is it?” the memory Doctor’s voice grew rough. The Doctor seized Eva’s hand, squeezing it painfully. Eva could see he had gone white in the face and he was about to hyperventilate. She put her other hand on his back, rubbing it in slow circles which he responded to. 

“N-never stop caring,” blood trickled out of Sienna’s mouth. “I’m so.. happy to be one of your friends. Bury me on earth..next to my grandma..” 

“Sienna!” her eyes had shut and after a long moment she opened them. 

“I’m sorry, Doctor… I love you..” her eyes closed and she stopped breathing. The medium could see Sienna’s soul separate from her body; a bright brilliant light that neither Doctor could see at all. Eva heard Sienna’s voice in her head: Please look after him. 

“I will, Sienna.” the medium watched her Doctor who had sat down on a large rock and put his face in his hands. The Doctor didn’t ask Eva what she was talking about so she sat next to him, taking both his hands while they watched the memory Doctor. 

“No, Sienna, don’t leave,” he bowed his head. “I don’t want to be alone. Please, Sienna, open your eyes.” 

When no answer was forthcoming, the memory Doctor checked the pulse in her neck and upon finding there wasn’t one, picked up the body. Ignoring the blood smear on his scarf, he brought her back to the TARDIS and went back to Sienna’s hometown. Eva and the Doctor followed suit, watching in silence while the memory Doctor put Sienna’s body in a corner. He mechanically adjusted the TARDIS controls, sending the machine into space. 

The memory began to go gray, a swirling mist engulfed the scene. When the mist cleared again, Eva and the Doctor could see the memory Doctor in the TARDIS again. Standing in the background Eva saw Sienna’s body wrapped up in an old sheet but her head was still poking out. The medium couldn’t suppress a shudder which was noticed by her Doctor. “A shudder from a registered nurse?” 

“Doctor, I’ve seen it before. I’ve had to take needles and tubing off several dead bodies in my nursing career. I can describe death in detail but that doesn’t mean that I am one hundred percent comfortable around it. My duty is to the living.” she defended. 

“So is mine.” the memory Doctor wiped his eyes as he operated the TARDIS controls. The memory blurred and fizzled out, regrouping in a cemetery. 

“I guess you blurred out the memory of your early days of grief,” Eva watched the pastor conduct the burial service. The memory Doctor was standing hidden near a tall monument while he watched the service. “what else do you remember?” 

“I put her body in an alley where I knew it would be discovered,” the Doctor stared straight ahead. “the police found her, declared her the victim of manslaughter since she didn’t have any known enemies and her parents were in prison. She had some money in the bank; I augmented it enough so that she could be buried decently.” 

“That was nice of you, Doctor.” Eva smiled, pressing his hand gently. “What’s going to happen to your past self?” 

“He will get the call to go to Gallifrey and he will go there,” the Doctor said simply, watching his old self retreat back into his TARDIS which was behind a family crypt. “then he will meet a new companion, Leela.” 

“Doctor, look!” Eva pointed. A few familiar faces were in the crowd. Harry Sullivan, the Brigadier and Sarah Jane stayed behind while the people left. Sarah pressed a bouquet onto the casket, her eyes brimming, while Harry put a hand on her shoulder. The Brigadier bowed his head as a sign of respect then they all moved on. 

“Looks like she was very well loved. Did she ever really know it?” Eva inquired, approaching the casket and putting a hand on it. “Poor thing.” 

“I don’t know,” the Doctor sighed. “if she did then she never really let on. Of course what do I know; I’m old anyway.” 

“Companion deaths might make you feel old, yeah.” 

“Wait, you said something after Sienna died,” the Doctor took her hand away from the casket. “what was it?” 

“I was talking to Sienna. I told her that I would look after you.” 

“Did you see her?” Eva became aware that someone was standing behind her. Sienna stood with a smile on her face as Eva turned to see it. The late companion was dressed in black track pants, her dual gunbelts, and a neon pink sleeveless top. The Doctor caught Eva’s fixed stare and looked in that direction as well. 

“I’m seeing her now. Do you see her?” 

“No!” he said, frustrated. “Sienna, I’m sorry! I should have kept you safe!” the apparition walked over and put her hand on Eva’s who in turn took the Doctor’s hand, completing the link. 

“Shh, listen.” she directed. 

I’m sorry for my actions, Doctor. Please don’t forget me and have fun with your new friend. Sienna thought. The Doctor understood completely and could not repress a gasp at hearing his friend’s voice after so long. You’ll be all right, you usually are. Thank you for all you’ve done for me. Sienna pressed a kiss to his cheek then disappeared. 

The Doctor felt the coldness on his cheek that he suspected was Sienna. Inhaling sharply he looked around them wildly but saw no one. Eva smiled comfortingly, seeing his blue eyes were close to brimming with tears. 

“Where is she?”

“Doctor, she’s gone,” Eva said simply as a gust of warm air ruffled their shirts. “but she’s always with you,” the medium smiled and put a hand on his chest. “in here and in your head. It’s all about the love; that fantastical energy that doesn’t die.” as if in agreement the cloudy sky broke and the sun began to shine down. 

The Doctor frowned and wiped his eyes. “Why was she attacking me in my head?” 

“Because she knew you were forgetting her. If I’m not mistaken, the TARDIS could sense it too. Anyway your memory is restored and you won’t forget her. Ever,” Eva’s calm demeanor seemed to placate the Doctor as he exhaled, staring at her. “it’s all about the love, Doctor. Don’t forget that.” 

“Seems I have no choice.” Eva giggled. The scene started to waver and go in and out of focus.*

**

Janet entered the room to check in on her two patients. The sleep specialist had seen many people throughout her career but she’d never seen two people that seemed to be in sync like the Doctor and Eva. They were just friends of course but she thought they had more potential. Both of her patients were sleeping easily and comfortably; the monitor showed normal alpha rhythms meaning they were in a deep and healing somnolence. 

“I think we can cut off the gas now,” she entered a command on the control panel. “and let you guys wake up normally.” the computer in the supervising booth had provided a transcript of the dream in case either one wanted to peruse it later. 

The Doctor and Eva were holding hands which was sweet to Janet’s eyes. The eccentric old man was dressed all in black except for a light blue collared shirt. Eva on the other hand was wearing a grape colored t-shirt, a black shirt unbuttoned, gray chinos, and her leather jacket was draped on one chair along with the Doctor’s black peacoat with red lining. Janet had noticed that Eva was definitely the more flashy one of the pair; she was wearing makeup that complimented her outfit perfectly.

“Oh, you guys are going into another dream.” the specialist noted, sitting in the booth with a mug of coffee to keep her warm. 

”Eva?” the Doctor called, standing in a very black place. “Where are you?” 

“Doctor!” she called. “Help me!” 

“I’m coming!” he chose a direction randomly and began to run. Several doors opened up on either side and out of each one popped an enemy. 

“EXTERMINATE!” a Dalek shot at him. 

“YOU WILL BE DELETED!” a Cyberman tried shooting at him but burned off a chunk of wall instead. 

An Ice Warrior, Krillitane, and several other enemies popped out to try to throttle him but he dodged all of them, reaching the end of the room and disappearing through the door. 

“Help me, Doctor!” 

“Where are you?!” 

“Doctor!” he peered through a dirty glass window. Eva was out in a churchyard with shadowy figures creeping up all around her. “Help!” 

“I’m coming! Hold tight!” the Doctor saw a widow’s walk with a mounted pulley system and ropes that could be used for moving things up and down. Aiming the sonic screwdriver at the window it shattered into fragments, then he kicked the bent latch so the frame opened up. The Doctor jumped out, lining himself up with the ropes, then sliding down them easily. 

Jumping off the ropes he scurried across the churchyard, jumping over the small stones. On his face were the sonic sunglasses; the Doctor had programmed them awhile ago to latch onto Eva’s heartbeat. They did not fail him now and indicated just where he should go. 

“Doctor!” Eva screamed as an unknown assailant attacked her, wrapping its hand around her throat and squeezing hard. The Doctor could hear her choking and sped up his pursuit. Her vital signs began increasing, the sunglasses were flashing a warning as he raced to the rescue. 

“Ugh!” she choked, trying to fight. Blackness obscured her vision and she went limp. Eva’s heartbeat disappeared from the sonic sunglasses causing the Doctor to swear. He found Eva’s body lying behind a big monument, fell to his knees and turned her over. 

“Shite, your heart stopped!” fortunately he knew CPR so he began giving her chest compressions. “You taught me this!” the Doctor breathed into her mouth. “One, two three!” he leaned down again, breathing for her. “You do not get to die on me, Eva!” 

The sonic sunglasses registered a faint heartbeat; a few seconds later Eva inhaled violently and went into a wheezing and coughing spasm. The Doctor gasped, getting his own breath back, then turned Eva towards him. “Breathe, Eva!” It took a few minutes but Eva’s breathing became regular again. The Doctor smoothed away her hair from her face as she fought to control her breathing. “Breathe, Eva! Just breathe!” 

The medium focused and drew a shaky breath. “Better then?” she was able to sit up, gently removing the Doctor’s hand from her chest. 

“Oh!” Eva sighed and leaned against the monument, closing her eyes. 

“Eva?” the Doctor asked. “Are you all right?” 

“I’m OK, Doctor.” 

“OK? Your heart stopped!” he cried. “Gave me a turn, you did! I thought I’d lost you!” 

“I thought I died!” Eva shakily looked at him. “Oh, God!” she put her face in her hands, tears streaming down liberally while he took off his sunglasses. There the human side of her went again, he thought. He never had time for tears; it was one of the faults of the human race. At the very least he understood; she’d just been through a major trauma and her heart had stopped. Snapping at her to stuff the tears didn’t seem right; she knew his viewpoint anyway. 

“Oh, Eva,” the Doctor gripped her by the shoulders. “I’m not good at this comforting thing.” 

“I was so scared,” she blubbered. “Doctor..” 

“You’ll be all right. Time to buck up now.” the medium looked at him searchingly. The Doctor was still uncomfortable with shows of emotion. Eva knew he had a prickly exterior but she’d worked to humanize him a little more which was paying off. He’d never had much time for emotion in general and he sure as hell was awkward when trying to comfort her but it was an improvement.

The Doctor woke up with a little gasp to see Janet bending over him. “Hey, you’re awake,” she smiled. “Eva gave us a horrible start.” 

“What happened?” 

“For some reason her heart stopped. I know the sleeping gas we use is very mild but it can’t produce a side effect like that..” 

“No, it wasn’t that,” the Doctor turned on his side to see Eva lying motionless. “we had a shared dream where she was strangled.” she had no visible evidence of the attack and was still deeply in the throes of sleep, according to the monitor. 

“That usually doesn’t translate to the physical world.” 

“On rare cases it does,” he watched Janet listen to Eva’s heart. The Doctor’s hand still gripped hers so he turned it over, pressing two fingers to her pulse, happy to feel it beating. “oh thank god,” he sighed in relief. “her pulse is normal.” 

“That may be but her blood-oxygen levels are still low right now,” Janet gave her a cannula. “when she wakes up I’ll give her a physical exam. You, Doctor, can go back to sleep. It’s several hours yet til sunrise.” 

“How long has it been?” 

“About an hour and a half.” 

“That’s it? The sleeping gas does a good job.” 

“Do you want another dose of it? I can give you a few hits to put you back out.” 

“No thanks, I can manage.” Janet left the room after wishing him a goodnight. The Doctor watched Eva in the tiny blue light of the monitors, blushing when he caught himself watching the rise and fall of her chest. 

“Sleep well, Eva.” he mumbled, closing his eyes. 

**

The Doctor blinked, seeing himself standing on a familiar street in the low light. It was dark outside, he had an inkling that he knew what was coming. A figure wearing a blue sweater and dark pants was striding to the middle of a street while a raven cawed. “Oh shit, I can’t be seeing this again!” he swore angrily. 

The bird flew at the figure, flying right into it with a flash of light. The figure recoiled back a step, let out an ungodly scream, then a fountain of black smoke issued from the mouth. With one breathy sigh the figure collapsed on the street. “I’ll not have this happening again!” the Doctor went over to the body. “My god-EVA!” he screamed, seeing Eva’s features instead of Clara’s. “How in the hell did you switch places with her, girl?!”

The Doctor picked up Eva’s torso from the ground, applying two fingers to her neck he felt no pulse. “Damn you, Eva!” he couldn’t let her lie there on the street so he chose an abandoned building, using the sonic screwdriver to turn the lights on. The Doctor laid her out on the table, his hearts thudding in his chest until he thought they would explode through him. 

“Doctor?” he turned hearing Eva’s voice. She stepped out of the shadows and joined him at the table. “What’s going on?” 

“You tell me,” he said simply. “I thought I was watching my friend die again and all of a sudden it’s your face I’m seeing.” 

“Oh!” Eva replied in a hushed tone. “I understand.” 

“You do?” 

“I’m much more schooled in dreams, Doctor. I understand dreams can be messages from the subconscious. Look here,” Eva put her hand on her doppelganger’s face which then turned into nothing. “your friend died this way?” 

“She did.” 

“Then it’s simple, Doctor. You started out with a repressed memory of Sienna and how she died, we dream that I was attacked, then you dream that I died.” 

“So you’re saying that I have an anxiety about you, given the fact that several of my past companions have died.” the Doctor finished somberly, watching Eva closely as she drew a sheet over the now headless corpse. 

“It wouldn’t be any stretch of the imagination so far, Doctor.” 

“So what do you think?” he asked sarcastically. “You’re the dream expert it seems.” 

“I think that any time emotions come into play you have no use for them,” Eva locked him in a firm stare, walking over to him and taking him by the shoulders. “Doctor, you told me you were half human once a long time ago. Being half human means emotions come in the parcel as well. You need to express emotions in a healthy way; tell someone, write it down. Humans need to have their emotions validated and heard-it’s part of the experience. Do you know how integral emotions are to us anyway?” 

“They’re a weakness, girl!” 

“No, they’re not! Now you listen to me and you listen good!” the medium’s brown eyes flared angrily, making the Doctor feel a little threatened. “I don’t care where you’re from, Doctor, or how you’ve been mentally conditioning yourself to think that emotions are useless! As long as you’re going to travel with human friends you will understand their emotions and if necessary validate them! Our emotions help us shape our lives on earth, we take chances based off how we feel and you do too! I know you hate physical contact but sometimes it is necessary. You need to not deny how you feel!” 

“How I feel?” he retorted. “Can you guess how I’m feeling towards you right now?!” 

“The nice thing about emotions is that sometimes they’re obvious!” she shot back. “You need some emotional intelligence!” 

“Cease your prattling, girl! I vent my emotions like others. This talk is getting us nowhere!” 

“Doctor,” Eva put a hand to her right temple. “do you feel that?” 

“I do,” there was a familiar faint pain in the same spot. “oh no; I thought that we’d gotten rid of those nasty buggers!” 

“What is it?” the scene dissolved in front of them. “Have I been feeling this pain the entire time?” 

“No we haven’t. Eva, the sleep institute has a few crabs in it.” 

“What?” Eva winced as she tried to clear the pain in her head but it didn’t work. 

“Dream crabs. How they work is that they tunnel into your head and dissolve your brain. The dreams are the anesthetic and keep us all nice and oblivious to the fact that we’re being fed upon.” 

“Ugh! We need to wake up; how can we do that?” 

“The dream crabs feed off our negative energy and fears; that’s why we had that dream about you getting attacked and you dying in the road.” 

“You sound like you’ve had experience with them, Doctor.” Eva observed, standing and looking around at the black nothingness surrounding them. 

“I have. Mostly we just concentrated and told ourselves to wake up. What’s the last conscious memory you have?” 

“We came here to the sleep institute.” 

“Seems they have an infestation then. We’ve got to get out of here.” 

“Are they forcing us to dream-can we stop?” 

“I don’t think so, Eva,” the Doctor dismissed her idea. “We don’t have any choice about dreaming when we’re under the influence of the dream crab’s anesthetic. All we need to do is join hands and think wake up.” 

“I hope this works..” Eva allowed the Doctor to take her hands.

“Where’s the positive emotion?” he teased. “It will work! Just be careful when you wake up.” 

Eva didn’t want to ask any more questions so she followed the Doctor’s example. Clutching his hands she concentrated on his example then told herself to wake up.

**

Janet rubbed her eyes and yawned. She’d fallen asleep on duty again but didn’t think that anything had changed. She peered through the curtains at her charges and was horrified to see their faces were engulfed by odd looking creatures. Shutting the curtains she was trying to block out the image in her mind when she heard the creatures hissing softly. 

The Doctor recoiled, jerking up from his reclining position, gasping as the crab fell off of his face and turned into dust on the floor. His lungs spasmed and burned so he doubled over, coughing wildly for a few moments then he turned his attention to Eva. The medium jerked up as well, her crab falling off, turning into dust as she turned on her side, coughing. 

“What is happening here?” Janet came into the room. The Doctor ignored her, grasping Eva’s shoulders and forcing her to look in his eyes. 

“Eva! Breathe! It’s all right, they’re gone!” the medium felt herself go slack, collapsing back on the bed, still fighting to get her breathing under control. 

“Come on now,” the Doctor moved her hair back from her face. “those crabs let us feel so tired after they’re done with us.” 

“Crabs?” Janet inquired. “Doctor, what just happened here?” 

“Ah, Janet! What time is it?” 

“Almost 8 actually. I just noticed those things a few minutes ago.” 

“Why didn’t they get you?” 

“I don’t know-I was asleep myself on duty,” she admitted with a rueful smile. “I often do it.” 

“So the crabs didn’t get you because you were already asleep. We were already asleep so why did they get us?” 

“I was in a sealed booth, Doctor.” 

He gave a short laugh. “So I see. We were open bait as it seems. Is there anyone else here?” 

“No, I’m all there is on the night shift.” 

The Doctor was concerned about Eva; she hadn’t lifted up her head at all while he and Janet were talking. He examined her with the sonic screwdriver but all her vitals were fine. “Eva?” he prodded, getting her to open an eye. “Are you feeling all right?” 

“I’m OK, I’m just very tired.” 

“Those crabs do a number on human nervous systems,” the Doctor remembered that Clara had a difficult time recovering as well. “you’ll be feeling exhausted for the whole day. It’s withdrawal from their anesthetics they inject into us. Feel up to going back to the TARDIS?” 

“I can manage to get there yeah.” 

“Good!” the Doctor bounced up from the bed, picking up her shoes and jacket, tossing them at her. He got into his own boots and jacket, then helped Eva stand up. “Maybe we can come back here another time, Janet.” 

“I would like that, Doctor,” she smiled. “no crabs of course! Eva, you’re a medium so you might be interested in some techniques we developed to help you manage your mediumship so to speak. Please come by anytime.” 

“Janet, we would be delighted to.” Eva agreed, just looking forward to the moment when she could collapse on the lounger in the console room. 

“We will return, Janet.” the medium managed to say as she walked with the Doctor out the door and into the morning air. 

For Eva the return back to the TARDIS was a hazy memory in her eyes. She’d managed to get there, the Doctor had been asking her something but she hadn’t been able to give him an answer. The Doctor’s face was right in front of her, asking her something, but his face wavered in and out of focus. There was a sensation of falling, something had caught her, and the next thing she knew she was sinking into darkness. 

**

The Doctor pulled the dematerialization switch, programming the TARDIS to drift in space time while he thought over the latest adventure. The repressed memory had been there, the crabs had attacked after that, poisoning their dreams with ones of death and sadness. Eva had come through it very well though despite her bravado she was not as resilient as the Doctor was. 

Humans were fragile in many ways, the Doctor thought as he walked down the corridor and went into Eva’s room. He sat down on the edge of the bed, grasped her limp left wrist, pressing his index finger tightly down so he could check her pulse. 

Eva stirred a little bit at the contact. “Won’t be long now before you’re waking up.” her pulse was fine, she was breathing all right and her color had come back. 

Brown eyes opened up, first a little foggy then sleep cleared from them. “Welcome back, Eva,” the Doctor greeted her, releasing her wrist. “how do you feel now?” 

“Better. What happened?” 

The Doctor outlined what had happened at the institute then informed her about the dream crabs. “They’re always lurking on some planet or another. There are some on earth.” 

“Ugh. How did I get back here?” her voice was still weak but the Doctor didn’t mind that too much. 

“We walked here and we were in the TARDIS, I was asking you where you wanted to go next but you didn’t seem to be hearing me. You passed out cold and I brought you to your room. You’ve been unconscious for about four hours now.” 

“Those crabs really took it out of me,” Eva remembered. “it felt like I couldn’t breathe at some points.” 

“Anesthetic withdrawal,” he informed her, scanning her with the sonic. “your blood oxygen signs were a little low for awhile so I had to monitor you for a bit. Now you’re normal though probably still tired.” 

“I suppose your Gallifreyan constitution prevents side effects as well,” Eva remarked bitterly. “must admit I get jealous at some points.” 

“Don’t be. Anyway I’m about ready to turn in for the rest of the day and night. Even Time Lords need some sleep eventually.” 

“Of course. Try to have some good dreams, Doctor.” Eva sighed, closing her eyes. The Doctor waited a few minutes until he was sure that she was really asleep then picked up her hand. His companion had long graceful fingers that in spite of her makeup obsession she didn’t wear polish on her nails at all. She had taken him to task about emotions but contrary to her belief he had still had them. In spite of his natural gruffness he really did care deeply about Eva. Leaning forward he kissed her on the cheek affectionately. 

“Strangely enough I sleep better when another person’s in the room.” he lay down on the chaise lounge Eva had near her bedside and kicked off his boots. Eva would be surprised to know that the Doctor spent nights on the lounge in her room, he thought. He usually awakened before she did and would go about his day like nothing had ever happened and Eva never seemed to notice a thing. 

“Good night, Eva.”


	5. Nerva II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eva and the Doctor stumble upon Nerva II, where the occupants are all in stasis due to an unidentifiable disease.

Eva woke up and rubbed her eyes, exhaling quietly. She glanced over at the Doctor’s lounge to see that he was gone; muted swearing erupted from the console room, making her smile. The Doctor was at it again in his repairs and it seemed like the TARDIS was fighting him right back on it. He’d wanted to put a new something in to make the ship more fuel efficient but it seemed like the old girl wasn’t having any of it. 

The medium got up, took a shower and put on a neon green button up shirt over a white t-shirt and dark gray chino pants. It occurred to her that she and the Doctor had similar fashion sense but he went for the drab black and maybe a little bit of color but Eva preferred loud colors. She put on a tiger’s eye necklace, a matching pair of stud earrings, then combed out her wet hair. 

“What style am I going for today?” she sat at the vanity, taking out a few rhinestone barrettes. Eva swept back both sides of her mane, trapping the hair in the barrettes with a loud snap. She did her makeup, finishing off with a berry toned nude lip, a little gloss and she was all set. 

“I think the smoky brown eye looks good,” Eva put on her sneakers, grabbed her leather jacket then went out to see what the Doctor was doing that time. “where’d you go, Doctor?” 

“Right here!” he popped up from underneath the console, seeing Eva in a low light. The medium looked different for some reason. She gave him a quizzical look, tilting her face in the light so the Doctor could see a shiny sheen on the top of her cheek. 

“All right?” Eva sat down next to the console. The Doctor could see the glittery light reflection in her hair and wondered where that had come from. 

“You’ve become a visual distraction, girl. Why is your face shiny?” he stood up and moved so he was in front of her. 

Eva smiled, causing the Doctor to notice she had a little touch of glitter on her lips. “Right here? That’s called a highlighter. In the right light I do look a bit shiny.” 

“What’s this on your lips?” the medium had to laugh, tilting her head again so the Doctor saw the rhinestone barrettes in her hair. 

“It’s a glitter gloss. There’s a color under it. I felt like looking a little special today, that’s all.” 

“Eva,” he pulled the dematerialization switch. “your looks have nothing to do with your personality. Honestly girl, if you went around with no makeup you’d still be you!” 

Eva just shook her head. The earth had many people who didn’t understand that makeup is empowering to the person who wore it. She had more confidence when she wore it, she looked and felt good, so that’s all it was to her. “Did it ever occur to you Doctor, that when we haven’t gone anywhere I wear little to no makeup?” 

“So you’re not a compulsive addict then.” the TARDIS whirred steadily, the columns rotating on top of the cavernous room, lights strobing around. Eva glanced upwards, watching the TARDIS go through the motions while the Doctor shut the lower panel, gave it a quick buzz with the sonic, then adjusted the monitor. 

“You’ve heard my lecture before, Doctor, so I won’t repeat myself.” she sat in a chair with a little sigh, crossing her legs but still amused by the Doctor. Eva put her phone on mute and slid it into her pocket while the TARDIS chugged away. 

“I appreciate that,” the Doctor said shortly. “where are we headed today, old girl?” he gave the console a sharp rap that echoed hollowly. 

“You’re letting the TARDIS decide?” Eva looked amused but knew better than to question the Doctor. She got up, walking around the console, her hand drifting over it. The Doctor noticed that her nails were a deep red so she had taken to heart the notion that she wanted to look special. Raising an eyebrow he shot Eva a glance but she didn’t notice it. 

The pair heard the TARDIS wind down and the usual thump of the police box on solid ground meaning that they had landed. Eva walked over nonchalantly to the door which gave the Doctor a chance to take a reading of her with the sonic screwdriver. She had been acting a little more excitable lately, she had more color in her cheeks that the Doctor didn’t think was due to the makeup she’d been wearing. 

Eva turned to look at the Doctor who quickly hid the sonic behind his back. “Let’s see what the TARDIS has given us to untangle!” he said with an inclination of his head, walking over while Eva opened up the doors. As he was about to cross the threshold he glanced furtively down at his sonic, reading the words HUMAN IN HEAT. 

“Oh this isn’t going to end well,” he muttered, leaving the TARDIS. “where and when are we?” 

Across the atrium from the TARDIS was a bronze plaque on the wall which read WELCOME TO SPACE STATION NERVA II. 

**

“Nerva!” the Doctor boomed, clasping both hands together. “Let’s see if she’s a direct copy of her old big sister!” there was a map on one wall which he fell to analyzing. Eva saw a yellow door that said YELLOW BADGE PERSONNEL ONLY and it had a caduceus on it. 

“Doctor, look at that!” Eva exclaimed, walking towards the door. 

“Be quiet, girl, I’m busy!” the medium paid no attention to the Doctor, noting the other doors. Green meant engineering, red meant leadership, and yellow must have meant medical. White badge must have meant cadets, entry level space explorers or researchers, Eva mused idly. Passing her hand over the ID badge kiosk didn’t do anything but she discovered a tablet mounted in the wall at eye level. 

“Let’s see here, how about I become a member of this illustrious company?” she followed the prompt’s commands, registering herself. “I’m not an engineer, leader or captain, I am a nurse...” the medium tapped the nurse button. “Eva Jane Barnes, 37 years old, birthday July 4th, 1983, nurse for about 15 years, right? Yeah, it’s been 15..” 

WELCOME TO NERVA II the prompt told her. PLEASE TAKE YOUR ID BADGE. The badge fell into a little chute with a clink. Eva picked it up and attached the badge to her shirt lapel proudly. It was nothing special; just her photo, a bar code, and a caduceus indicating that she was medical personnel. The caduceus was on a yellow background which clarified the color coded badge systems. 

“What do you think, eh, Doctor?” she walked over to him where he was touching the map, scanning with his fingers and his eyes like it was telling him the future. 

“Quiet, Eva! I’m trying to figure out the purpose of this station!” he snapped, eyes still glued to the board. 

“Take a picture, it lasts longer!” she rebutted, folding her shirt collar over her jacket lapel so her badge was in plain view. 

“Yes, take a picture!” he took a picture with his phone and turned to her. “Eva-” his gaze fell on her badge. “What did you do?” 

“I signed on to be a nurse here! I need to learn more about this place and if I can be useful at the same time it will work and help you out too.” 

“Miss Impulsive strikes again.” the Doctor put a hand to his temple. “You’re giving me such a headache, girl. Once this is over, we-”

“Nothing’s begun yet, Doctor. Space nursing could be incredible and now you can snoop around without fear of getting caught because you’re with me.” Eva’s face was a little more symmetrical, she had boundless energy and if he wasn’t mistaken, those were stars in her eyes. 

“Yeah, whatever,” the sooner Eva was out of her fertile time the better he would like it. The Doctor knew a lot about women after traveling with them for so long and Eva’s cycles were always noted by him, finding it interesting about how she acted each month. “your impulsivity will get you one day.” 

“Be that as it may, but,” she flashed her badge in front of the door which opened up. “I’m the key to getting you anywhere on the station.” huffing impatiently the Doctor refrained from rolling his eyes as Eva stood across from him with a smug smile on her face. 

They stepped into a small chamber with an automated voice greeting. “Welcome to Nerva II, one of the finest intergalactic space stations in the Milky Way galaxy. Please state how many people are in the pod.” 

“Two,” the Doctor spoke, leveling Eva with a glare. “it’ll be one if you don’t behave yourself.” 

“Oh, I’m so scared,” Eva retorted. She was really feeling the effects of the surge of estrogen running through her veins, the Doctor shook his head, staring at her badge instead of her face. 

“Number of heartbeats detected: 2,” the voice told them. “one is Ms. Eva Barnes, registered nurse, and visitor. Visitor, please take your badge and affix it to your lapel. Welcome.” 

“You said that already,” the Doctor allowed Eva to take the badge and clip it to his jacket lapel. “I’ll thank you for it later-after you’ve proven to me that you didn’t get yourself killed.” he snapped irritably, proceeding down the hallway. Eva followed about halfway down the main corridor then she felt her arm snag on something. Before she could speak she was whirled around to face a humanoid creature. 

“Hello, pretty lady,” the stature was human but he had odd little marks like butterflies tattooed on his neck and jawline. He was wearing a dark green uniform with white bars on his shoulders. “come with me, please.” 

“My friend-” 

“He will be fine. He’s rather like a cat, isn’t he? Curiosity never satisfied.” the man peered around the corner to see the Doctor was already out of sight. 

“That’s the Doctor for you,” Eva smiled. “is there something I can help you with?” 

“Right. This way. Oh, I’m Aaron by the way.” they began walking down the corridor. 

“Eva.” 

“So I saw from your badge,” he said politely. “I’ve been on Nerva for about five years now. There’s a situation in the medical bay and we need help with it.” 

“Oh wow,” Eva paused to take in the view. “the galaxy is so beautiful.” 

“We can admire that later,” Aaron took her hand. “you can get access to the medical bay and see what I’m talking about. Come on.” 

“Why don’t you enlighten me about the medical situation? I’m an earth nurse and I’m not experienced in space medicine. Are you an orderly?” they hustled back to the main corridor where Eva swiped her badge for the yellow doors. 

“No; I’m a cadet. I was brought here from earth in the year 3400 to begin a 10 year space exploration around our galaxy,” Aaron began as they entered a reception area. “this here is our memory bank and you’ll find out that we were attacked by an unknown pathogen and our only recourse was to lock ourselves in stasis until someone in the future decided to pay us a visit and help us out.” 

“An airborne pathogen?” Eva frowned, trying to remember the different modes of transmission for infectious agents. 

“No-nothing could survive on the station for airborne transmission. All our visitors and personnel were screened for infectious disease upon arrival. You and the Doctor were screened as well so you haven’t the pathogen.” 

“I need more information. Who’s in charge?” Eva flashed her badge to enter the ward. “Oh..” the ward contained about six beds with curtain dividers and nobody was in them. There was a supply area adjacent to the ward and a pharmacy next to the sterile supply. 

“Nobody’s in charge, Eva. Our captain or leader, Xano, died because of the pathogen. Through here.” Aaron led her through the second door which revealed several stasis chambers set into the wall. In six of them the crew were currently residing. Eva glanced into a few of them, almost open mouthed in her astonishment. 

“Our medical personnel were the first to fall victim to the pathogen,” Aaron said simply. “you should be fine but we can’t wake up the others until we get a cure.” 

“Aaron, these are all human and how did you come here? Is that a really bitching tattoo or are you from another world/” in the low green light of the chamber Eva appraised each stasis chamber critically, wondering what sort of pathogen had infected them. Some bore obvious signs of illness like a fever, flushed looking skin and the like. 

Aaron flushed a little bit. “I signed on through a partnership program. My planet of origin is actually called Titan.” 

“One of Jupiter’s moons?” Aaron grinned. “They thought it was inhospitable.” 

“Because we make it that way. There’s a lot of life and butterflies down there. What do you need to get started?” 

“I need records, Aaron. I need to know the mode of transmission since it doesn’t appear to be airborne, I need all the information-the symptoms, progression, what it was treated with, etc. And I need the Doctor.” Eva went to the reception area with Aaron and began to punch the button for the mainframe computer, turning it on. She swiped her badge at the kiosk which fed directly into the computer so she got unrestricted access.

“What about your friend?” Aaron leaned over the top of the desk to watch her. 

“He’ll come back when he’s ready.” Eva began to type. 

**

The Doctor didn’t seem to realize that Eva had disappeared. Going down into the power systems he barely registered the fact that he was alone. Along the catwalk he strolled, grinning as he remembered the systems were exactly identical to Nerva I’s. Fond memories of Sarah, Harry, and the intergalactic vermin the Wirrn came up to his mind. 

“I never thought I’d come to be so fond of a space station!” he inspected the center stack for any flaws and didn’t find any. “Eva, come have a look at this-in flawless shape!” 

Silence. “Eva?” the Doctor aimed the screwdriver at the nearest light and buzzed it so the whole generating system came alight. “You there, you silly girl?” 

Nothing. “Damnit, girl! You’ve probably run into something foul and need me to pull you out of it!” he began to hightail it back to the main corridor where he’d last seen her. Eva’s fertile time made her more of an adrenaline junkie so he knew that she was getting herself into some trouble or another that he’d have to bail her out of. “Why in the hell couldn’t you just stay with me?” the Doctor got up to the main level, trying to remember which way was which so he pulled out his phone and consulted the image. “Right!” he dashed up the corridor and found himself right in front of the security pod. 

“Eva? Where did you go?” he tried using his badge to access the medical bay but was repeatedly rebuffed by the system which told him to reconfigure permissions. “I think the only way to get access is to be a Doctor!” he followed the command prompts, registering himself as a Doctor, swapped badges, then got access to the medical bay. 

The yellow doors parted, the Doctor walked into the reception area, about ready to bellow Eva’s name and charge forth when he saw the reception desk. Leaning over he could see the mainframe computer was on and the headline on the monitor was NERVA II CREW SICKENED, then something obscured the monitor fast, making him jump. 

“About time you showed up,” Eva’s calm voice drifted to his senses. She looked the same as usual, nothing wrong. “all right?” she was standing by the desk casually with a few bags in one hand. 

“You scared me, girl!” he accused. His companion’s eyes saw his yellow badge and said nothing more, shoving a spare laptop at him. 

“Come on, two heads are better than one. This crew got sick somehow, they’re all in stasis chambers and we need to figure it out.” 

The Doctor loved nothing more than a good mystery. “Of course disease and pathogens aren’t my strong suite, Eva.” 

“They are now,” she remarked slyly, flipping to the next headline as she sat down. “you know that.” 

“What?” 

“You are a doctor now.” 

“Not A DOCTOR, THE doctor!” 

“No,” Eva tossed him a snack bag. “a real medical doctor like on your badge.” she smirked at him, inviting him to sit down. “You took an oath never to harm but to heal so get that mind of yours working, Doctor. I need to stretch my legs for a moment. Sit.” 

The Doctor sat down with a grunt, not liking how Eva managed to put one over him. Offended, he pouted a bit but started perusing the computer, his offense forgotten. Eva shook her head happily, observing her friend already immersed in work. He would be occupied for a good long while and after a break, she would go back at it too. The medium got up from her station, stretching her legs, then wandered into the ward. 

“Aaron?” she called “Are you hungry? I can grab you something-” she was cut off as a pair of lips sealed themselves over hers. The medium gasped as she was released, Aaron coming into view out of the darkness. “are you mad? At least turn the lights on!” she flicked the switch. 

“Sorry,” Aaron flushed red. “you’re a pretty lady and I couldn’t help myself. Can you do something for me personally?” 

“Depends on what it is. I know lately the Doctor thinks I’m being wildly impulsive but-” Aaron reached into his pocket and brought out a little circular vial with a cork stopper in it. “What is that?” Eva breathed, mystified. 

Inside the vial was something that looked like a human embryo. It didn’t move but Eva could distinctly make out the blood vessels, the cord, and other features. Aaron rotated the vial so she could see more of the embryo and she was not disappointed. “Wow. How is it that you came across this? Is it preserved as a speciman?” 

“No, it’s quite real, just in suspended animation,” Aaron assured Eva. “I brought this with me from Titan with instructions to bestow this upon a worthy female.” 

“What? How do you do that?” Eva could hardly believe that a tiny life was right before her eyes. 

“What I need from you is actually very simple. What you do for me is take this embryo inside you and carry it for a awhile. This is big as it’s going to get and already has its organs. It just matures in a safe place,” Aaron smiled, letting Eva take the vial and examine the embryo. “I can’t think of a safer place than inside you.” 

“How do you remove it? Surgery?” 

“Yes,” Aaron pecked her on the cheek as Eva turned the vial around. “you won’t give birth at all. Some months from now we will summon you as soon as the embryo sends us a message that it’s fully mature and ready to come out.” 

“Surgery doesn’t scare me. I’ll have to keep this a secret from the Doctor; he’d freak out. If it’s already full grown at this stage does that mean I won’t feel it move?” Eva couldn’t stop staring at it. 

“You will after it’s muscles mature enough. The movements you will be able to feel of course and you may be able to see them but it won’t be much. Will you do it?” 

“If we hurry. He’s going to get restless in a minute and bellow for me. I know the Doctor.” she glanced at the doorway, hoping he wasn’t going to hurry in. Aaron beamed, taking the vial and dumping the embryo out into the palm of his hand. 

“OK I’ll make it quick. You might feel a bit faint or pass out.” Aaron took the embryo gently in his hands then maneuvered his hand down to Eva’s midsection. 

“My passenger carrying room is down here,” she pushed his hand to her pelvis. The two of them watched as Aaron pushed the embryo gently into Eva. With a little sucking sound the embryo disappeared and she felt her body adjusting. “it’s almost like asexual reproduction, which isn’t a thing among humans.” 

“How do you feel?” Aaron inquired, seeing her lose her color in her face. 

“Just a little heavier than usual that’s all.” she glanced at herself. What Aaron had told her was true; her figure was just as slim as ever. 

Aaron looked over. “Come on, let’s get you to lie down for a few minutes until you’re adjusted to your new state.” 

“Eva!” the Doctor barked. “Your break’s over, come on!” 

“He bellows,” Eva pecked Aaron on the cheek. “can’t ignore him but thanks for this incredible chance. I wouldn’t miss it.” The two of them walked out into the reception room where the Doctor’s keen blue eyes looked up at Eva. In the five minutes she’d been gone he’d amassed a collection of junk food wrappers and discarded soda cans much to her disapproval. “Doctor, this is Aaron.” 

“You’ve gone pale, girl.” 

“Have I?” she feigned. “I don’t know why.” 

“Eva,” the Doctor stood up from the desk and reached over, applying a finger to the pulse in her neck. “your pulse is going faster now. What were you doing back there?” Eva looked into the Doctor’s face, seeing him questioning her, his voice seemed to surround her ears yet she felt like she was plunging into deep water which obscured her vision and her hearing all at once. 

Aaron raced off to the ward and brought back a gurney just as Eva’s skin turned cold and clammy. “She’s going into shock, Doctor!” 

**  
“Eva!” the Doctor saw her eyes close as Aaron helped him put her on the gurney. “Luckily enough now we’re in the medical bay so I can get you help!” he covered her with a blanket, took the gurney into the medical bay, his eyes rarely leaving his companion’s still form. “She was acting so impulsive today; I knew something would happen if she didn’t stop!” 

Aaron had seen this type of reaction before from other volunteers. Sometimes the body was too quick to respond to the embryo and gave it everything it had. Eva’s body had overreacted to the embryo so he picked up a circular sensor, put it over her heart and the monitor behind her lit up. The Doctor scanned the numbers a little anxiously. “Her signs are all over the place.” 

“Give it a minute. They’ll settle down. The sensor takes a little while to adjust,” Aaron said confidently. Sure enough Eva’s numbers returned to normal as Aaron put another sensor over her wrist. “Her nutritional numbers are low which is why she fainted.” 

“She’s the cook on board the TARDIS; I’ll take no responsibility for that,” the Doctor observed Aaron take out an IV kit and a nutritional bag, set it up, then insert a needle into Eva’s vein. “your uniform has the white bars on the shoulders; are you an orderly or cadet?” 

“I’m both, well, a nurse in training actually.” Aaron clarified, taping down the needle and sliding the tubing into place. 

The Doctor double checked Eva’s numbers and seemingly satisfied, he pulled the blanket up over his companion’s still form. “I was led to believe the whole crew put themselves in stasis-why aren’t you?” 

“I was-your arrival triggered the awakening mechanism,” the cadet checked the monitor. “I’ve been out here for about six years.” 

“Where are you from?” 

“Titan.” 

“Jupiter’s moon?”

“Exactly the same. She should be waking up soon,” Aaron gave Eva an iron injection. “that’ll fortify her real nice.” 

“Can never have too much iron,” the Doctor said sarcastically. “from what I’ve seen the Nerva II has had a serious security breach; someone bringing in an unknown pathogen and making the whole crew sick. How come you’re not sick with it?” 

“I already had it and got better. It was a very mild attack.” 

“Really,” the Doctor wasn’t buying it. “more likely your alien constitution prevented you from having the full effect of the disease.” 

“That was considered yes but my blood didn’t show any identifiable antibodies against the disease.” 

The Doctor gave up momentarily, knowing he didn’t have all the information handy to make any conclusions at that stage in the game. “Stay here with her while I go back to the computer for information here.” he grunted, shuffling off to the mainframe. 

“You don’t have to go back to the reception area, Doctor,” Aaron flipped open the mainframe panel at the nurse’s station. “you can stay here and listen to Eva, then scroll through the online database, no problem at all.” 

“Thank you,” the Doctor rolled over to the desk and pulled out a keyboard. “let’s get some answers!” 

Fifteen minutes later Aaron glanced at the monitor and saw there were two visible heartbeats now. The embryo’s heart was functioning fully it seemed; making Aaron smile a little bit. Eva’s body was responding like it should, feeding the embryo and keeping it safely protected. The iron injection he had given her was long lasting and it should last her the rest of the time she carried it. 

“Time to wake up now,” the IV bag was dry, Aaron threw it away, lowering his face down to Eva so the Doctor couldn’t hear him. “come on, Eva.” 

The medium lazily opened up one eye, giving Aaron a little smile. “Hi.” 

“Hi. You’re all right, just had a reaction to the-you know. The Doctor’s over there.” 

“Did I hurt the-” she passed one hand to her waist, pretending to press her belt but the unspoken insinuation was clear. 

“No. Your body overreacted to what I gave you,” Aaron spoke low. “you went into shock and fainted.” 

“I’m better now-I still feel pretty damn good. Can he see the monitor?” 

“No. Take a look up there before I turn it off,” Eva glanced up, seeing two heartbeats registering. “interesting, right?” 

“Yeah,” she peeled the sensor off of her chest, making the monitor turn off. “Doctor!” 

The Doctor turned to see Eva awake. “Well, welcome back, Eva,” he went over to her, applying his fingers to her neck, checking her pulse for himself. “you haven’t been taking care of yourself too well.” 

“Oh boy, here comes the lecture.” Eva waited for the tirade. The Doctor looked like he wanted to lecture and hector her like he usually did but he was too deep into his research to actually waste time lecturing his companion. He gave a little shrug, told her to pay better attention at keeping herself well then went back to the console. 

“Any chance he gets to bitch me out he usually does it,” the medium was amazed. “I guess that research is calling him too greatly! Anyway I should get back at it myself.” 

“Sure you’re 100% again?” Aaron put his hand at her waist as she sat up, taking the sensor off of her wrist and pushing the blanket aside. “You scared us both, I think!” 

“I’m fine, Aaron,” Eva told him, getting up from the gurney. “can you take the needle out of my arm now?” 

“Sure,” he removed the tape and slid the needle out, pressing firmly down with a gauze wad in time to catch the blood before more of it leaked out. Eva raised her arm up, pressing down very hard for about 30 seconds. “come on, lower the arm down now,” the bleeding had stopped. Aaron applied a pressure bandage, giving Eva a wink. “I’ll get you guys some refreshments.” 

“Thanks,” she joined the Doctor at the console. “so what have we got so far?” 

“You’d have known as much as I do if you didn’t go into shock and pass out on us,” the Doctor said airily, passing her a tablet. “I warned you to take better care of yourself.” 

“Oh, so it’s the lecture! Didn’t want to let Aaron have a front row seat now, did you?” Eva took the tablet and paged through it. 

“Curse you, girl! Can I teach you nothing?!” the medium privately thought that the Doctor would lose his shit when he found out what she had most recently done, essentially become pregnant with another life form, even if she would never change her shape or experience typical symptoms. “The last thing I need to worry about is you fainting or becoming sick when we leave the TARDIS! You need to take better care of yourself, Eva Barnes, or so help me, I will force you to undergo testing before we leave the TARDIS for anything, even a quick loo stop!” 

“All right, all right,” Eva put her feet up on the console desk with the tablet in her lap. “I’ll do better now can we stop the ranting?” she gave him a cocky smile. 

She wasn’t going to let him get away with his usual ranting speeches again. The Doctor growled at her but when she still was unperturbed by him he resumed his research. Eva picked up the tablet again, her left hand on her belt idly, using her thumb to flick back and forth between pages. 

The Doctor shuffled through more pages, getting a better idea of the situation that awaited them when a blaring ringing sound filled the ward. Eva saw the switch light up and flicked it with her foot. “Space station Nerva II, nurse Eva Barnes speaking.” 

“We’re registering signs of life inside Nerva II,” an unknown person announced. “what is going on? The station is supposed to be in hibernation.” 

“Two space travelers decided to hop in and help out with the pathogen situation.” Eva answered nonchalantly. 

“Are you a registered member of Nerva II?”

“We both are. Need our ID numbers, run our files through?” 

“Yes,” Eva read them her badge number and the Doctor’s. “it is extremely important not to let anyone else aboard the station until you can figure out the situation.” 

“Of course,” the medium said lazily. “is that all?”

“Nerva II has supplies enough for a year at the last inventory count. Update us with information via radio call or email.” 

“Will do. Laters.” Eva snapped the switch off. 

“You sounded like a bored telephone worker in the forties,” the Doctor had to smile. “so disinterested.” 

“Thanks,” Aaron came back with refreshments for them. With a knowing wink to Eva he passed her a water bottle. “high protein fare, I hope? I’ll need it.” 

“That’s unusual coming from you.” the Doctor rubbed his eyes. 

“What? Protein helps build muscle. Every nurse knows that by the end of the first day.” Eva took a drink. 

**

“Well, I think the computers have told us everything we need to know,” the Doctor sighed. “time to interview! Aaron, front and center!” 

“Yeah?” 

“Tell us everything you know, including the fact that an alien from Titan got on board an earth space station. Try not to leave anything out.” Eva and the Doctor pivoted in their chairs, putting the orderly on the spot. 

“I was at home on Titan when I got the call, saying I’d been picked for the program. Apparently the earthlings-” 

“Aliens actually use that term?” Eva smirked. 

“Shh!” 

“-had told me that I was picked for a spot through their exchange program. I grab the next shuttle leaving for Nerva II, get in here, then get some what they call CNA training.” 

“CNA?” the Doctor leaned towards Eva. 

“Certified nursing assistant.” 

“Oh.” 

“I signed up to become a full blown nurse, trained and attended school for six months, then when the rest of the crew arrived on board they all started to get sick. Nobody understood the method of transmission though we studied it for about four months. I got sick about three weeks after the initial contact. My symptoms were severe body aches, 104 degree fever, and red rashes all over my body.” 

“No, those symptoms can be of almost anything,” Eva interrupted this time. “they could be either or in this case.” 

“How about the body aches?” the Doctor started quizzing her. 

“They can come at any time after a physically hard day.” 

“The fever?” 

“Nonspecific, can set in at any time for any reason.” 

“The red rashes?” 

“Too much niacin in the diet, causes skin flush. We need more in the way of conclusive proof that this is an unknown pathogen, not just a bunch of people weaving random symptoms together in an effort to avoid work,” Eva stood up. “I’m no virologist or bacteriologist but I remember those courses in nursing school. I need blood samples from the afflicted for comparison.” 

“As do I!” the Doctor stood up as well. “Aaron, take us to the stasis chambers!” 

“This way,” they walked through the little ward and into the second room. “there are six crew members left to us, I’m afraid. We couldn’t decide what to do or how to even categorize the pathogen properly so we just gave up.” 

“You put yourselves in stasis hoping someone later on would come on board and help you out,” the Doctor said sarcastically. “nice job. You’ve only spent what, maybe 8 months on board before going into stasis?” 

“We had no choice, Doctor. If we didn’t preserve ourselves and not leave the station we would have been dead a long time ago.” 

“Ah yes, you’ve quarantined yourselves on board,” the Doctor peered into one of the stasis chambers. “how can we get blood without waking them up?” 

“They’ve all got IV needles in their arms. See that tubing right there? Connects right to their ports.” 

“Their circulatory systems still work, right?” 

“Yes, Doctor,” Aaron demonstrated how to get blood from the occupants. Eva and the Doctor each did two, as did Aaron. “let’s label these and get them through the centrifuge.” he marked each vial with the occupants’ names, injected each one with an anticoagulant, then loaded up the centrifuge. 

“All six of these were genuinely infected with whatever it was?” 

“Yeah. It’ll take about 20 minutes to have these properly spun through so we can evaluate them.” 

“Right. In the meantime, where was the contamination site?” 

“Lower level in the landing bay area. Come on, I’ll show you,” Eva wanted to go with them but Aaron and the Doctor both shouted her down. “We need you to monitor us on the camera in case something happens.” 

“See a lovely little green man on the wing out there?” she groused, going back to the desk. “You guys get to do all the fun stuff.” the Doctor had no patience for her pouting so he went down the metal stairway, bellowing for Aaron to follow him. 

“Right there!” Aaron kissed Eva on the cheek, pressing his hand to her belly. “It’s not just you anymore, remember that!” Eva flushed pink and nodded. Aaron clattered down the stairway after the Doctor while the medium sank back down on the desk chair. 

“Wait a minute,” Eva got up and rustled around in the equipment room, finding what looked to be a very futuristic ultrasound machine. “I’ll be damned if I can’t get a little enjoyment out of this trip.” the machine booted up very fast so Eva undid her pants, lowering them down just enough to get a good picture. The machine required a name to use it so she typed in a fake one for the patient and listed herself as the technician, listing the date as ten years ago when she worked in radiology. If the Doctor found it by any chance she could say that she’d had it in the back pocket of her pants.

The light was dim in the equipment room and a bit cold so Eva’s flesh broke out in goosebumps as she put a glob of gel on the transducer probe, holding it to the skin. “Amazing I was just looking at this in a glass tube a little less than an hour ago,” she mumbled, focusing in. The embryo had started maturing from what she could tell; all its tiny organs were working fine. “you’ll be fine inside there until they call for you!” Eva printed out a picture for Aaron to treasure, mopped her pelvis clean and turned off the machine. 

“Eva! Can you hear us?” the Doctor’s voice transmitted over the security cameras. She dashed over and sat down at the console, buckling her belt securely. 

“Yeah, I’m here,” she pulled the microphone stand closer to her. “see anything?” 

“Not yet, still looking. We want you to look in the maintenance records and check to see if anything’s been repaired within the 8 months that Aaron was on board.” 

“OK, checking,” Eva brought up the maintenance log and looked up the landing bay. “it doesn’t seem that anything’s been really checked well-oh, here’s something of interest. It says the main control fuse box had to be replaced due to an electrical short.” 

“Gonna check that out,” the Doctor went over to it with his sonic sunglasses. “well, here we are, a bright shiny new circuit breaker box! What have we got here?” 

“There shouldn’t be a short-we still have power in the whole station.” 

“Yes, but the main power box here is for the landing bay only!” the Doctor opened the panel with a rattle and inspected the connections. “Here we are, the electrical connections have been eroded down-I think it’s going to short eventually! How old is this space station, Aaron?” 

“It was new for our mission, Doctor,” Aaron looked confused. “why?” 

“Why would a brand new circuit breaker on board a new space station need to be replaced so quickly?” the Doctor looked triumphant. “Some space organism has made your station its home!” 

“Come on Doctor, I’ve got the gear to get a sample of the organism,” Aaron pulled out rubber gloves and a vial-the same one that housed the embryo, Eva smiled. The orderly inspected the casing of the circuit breaker and found a bit of slime leaking out of the rubber gasket. He took a sample, being careful not to touch it. “Got it!” 

“There we are! We’re coming up, Eva!” 

“Sounds good. I’m going up to stargaze a little bit. Back in a bit.” the medium needed a quiet moment to herself. 

She went out of the medical bay to look at the stars for a few minutes before the Doctor and Aaron got back. The medium wanted a chance to be by herself and just gaze out at the stars before going back to work, which was going to be hard and grueling. The Doctor was going to treat her like a servant but she didn’t really care about that anymore. Eva passed a hand over her pelvis, knowing she was going to be doing a lot of more that in secret until Aaron called her to wherever and have the obligatory surgery. She really was going to have to be at least a little more careful with her life now as Aaron reminded her, particularly since she wasn’t alone anymore. Someone else was counting on her to stay well now. Smiling to herself she went out on the star gazing deck, walking along, pulling out the sonogram picture. The Doctor was going to throw a fit of epic proportions when he found out and she did not doubt it would be soon. 

“I think he’ll find out before we leave this station honestly. The Doctor’s very perceptive.” she went back down to the security pod where Aaron and the Doctor were waiting for her, Aaron bearing the vial of slime proudly like a badge of honor. The Doctor looked satisfied as well and eager for the hard work to start. 

“I think that there’s a gastropod infestation on Nerva II!” he proclaimed. “Once we set some traps and get a medicine ready we can be out of here!” Eva giggled and got into the security pod, giving Aaron a shy glance. 

“So, you guys got a good speciman to dissect and play with?” the door slid shut. 

“Welcome to Nerva II,” the automated voice said again. “how many people are aboard?” 

“Three,” Aaron said confidently, gazing at Eva. “three people.” 

The red laser light scanned them all and the voice announced, “Four heartbeats detected.” Aaron and Eva exchanged a look then both glanced at the Doctor for his reaction. With a bit of a guilty conscience Eva thought the Doctor was staring straight at her pelvis as he was aware of the fact that humans were capable of generating new lives. 

“Four?” the Doctor looked at both of them. “That’s not right at all; the system might have a glitch in it. I’ll sort it out later.” the door opened up, the Doctor left first with Aaron and Eva’s jaws scraping the floor. 

“What the hell?” Eva whispered to Aaron. “He’ll figure it out soon.” 

“Does he think you’re a chaste angel?” the orderly sniggered. “Still..” 

“His mind is a million miles away, but maybe he thinks I’ve rarely had sex in my life..” 

“Come on now!” the Doctor ushered them. “Plenty of time to talk later; we need to solve a mystery.” 

“The Doctor adores mystery,” Eva swiped her badge and they went back into the medical bay. “by the way Aaron, I have something for you.” she covertly passed him the picture. 

“Oh, thanks! I’ll treasure it forever!” Aaron admired the ultrasound picture then he stuck it in his back pocket but the Doctor snatched it from his hands and looked at it. Eva bit her lip; the Doctor looked funny when looking at the picture. Aaron was disbelieving but faintly amused. 

“What is it?” he tilted the picture to one side, a quizzical look on his face. 

“That, Doctor, is an embryo.” Eva knew the Doctor’s mindset wasn’t clued in to what was going on right under his eyes so she dropped him a hint. Her name was listed as sonographer not as the patient so she knew her ass was covered. 

“Awfully big for an embryo, isn’t it?” he thrust the picture back and walked over to the console, checking on the centrifuge. Eva turned amused eyes to Aaron who looked like he was about to crack up. 

“I need a quick word with Eva, Doctor, we’ll be right back.” Aaron led Eva back to the security pod, shut the door, and ignoring the automated voice, started laughing. Eva joined him, letting loose a belly laugh, covering the security camera so the Doctor wouldn’t be able to see or listen. 

“Oh god,” Eva mopped her eyes. “I love him dearly but he’s so dense sometimes!” 

“He’s not in tune with human nature, is he?” laughing themselves out, the pair regained their breath, their composure, then walked out of the pod back down the hall. 

“He knows it very well but parts of it is elusive to him. He knows that I already had a daughter years ago, but-” 

“Really?” 

“She died soon after birth, Aaron. I never had another but anyway we better get back. He’s going to get antsy and start looking for us.” 

Outside the medical bay, Aaron looked at Eva almost longingly. “Can I be really forward on something?”

“What is it?” the orderly seemed to lose control of himself and lunge for Eva, pinning her against the wall and kissing her deeply. Taken by surprise she closed her eyes and enjoyed the contact. When he let go, Eva opened her eyes and smiled. “I know the situation is far from perfect but I really liked that.” 

“Well, I wouldn’t feel right without kissing you at least once.” the orderly gave her a shy grin. 

“Question, is it your child I’m carrying?” Aaron put his hand just under her belt as he thought about his answer. Eva watched him with lust in her eyes but she knew the Doctor would have another fit if she acted on her impulses so she controlled it. The Doctor could only handle so much, she told herself. 

The Doctor looked up from the console, not hearing what Eva had just asked but he did not fail to note the orderly had pressed his hand against Eva’s pelvis. “What is he doing to her?” the Time Lord asked to himself. The medium put her hand over Aaron’s, giving him an almost kittenish stare. 

“No, it isn’t,” Aaron’s voice sounded. “it’s a long story.” what was Aaron’s hand doing on Eva’s pelvis in the first place? The Doctor couldn’t seem to get his head around the concept for a moment. Eva and Aaron came back into the medical bay and resumed their stations, Eva at the console opposite the Doctor and Aaron went into the medical lab near the stasis chambers. 

Hand on her pelvis.. the security pod announcing FOUR heartbeats instead of just three? Could anything have been more obvious? He had written off the security pod’s words as a fault in the system, but the Doctor realized it wasn’t a fault. There was a fourth person on board but it wasn’t visible to the human eye. Turning around the Doctor ran a scan on his companion with the sonic sunglasses. Eva was working hard at her station, writing down information and tuning out the buzzing noise. The sonic sunglasses told him that there was a second heartbeat inside Eva, and he could see through the infrared vision that the heartbeat was concentrated in her pelvis. 

“Oh my god!” the Doctor put his sonic sunglasses away, spluttering, gazing at Eva like he’d just seen a ghost. “you did NOT!” 

She turned her head to look at him, fingers poised over the keyboard. “What?” 

“You got bloody pregnant, didn’t you!” the Doctor was completely shocked. “When did it happen? With WHO did it happen, eh?!” his hands clenched at his sides as he let the gravity of Eva’s situation sink in. 

“Are you mad at me or concerned?” she swung around, causing the Doctor’s eyes to gravitate towards her pelvis. There was nothing to see in her figure, no swelling or anything but he knew the sonic devices never lied. 

“Both! You’re in my protection and care! It must have happened while you are traveling with me-it’s been months now! Who’s the father?” 

“I don’t know the father, but Doctor, wait a minute!” Eva got up and went over to him. “This isn’t what you think!” 

“Oh no? Tell me, Eva! Don’t leave anything out!” he dared her with his eyes. “You didn’t do it in the TARDIS, did you?!”

“No, I swear it! Doctor, Aaron came to me and asked me to help him out so I said yes. He told me all about the embryo, said it’s fully grown and it needs time to mature inside.” 

“Since our friend is from a different planet I have to take his word for it,” the Doctor muttered. “go on. If it’s fully grown now how does it come out?” 

“Surgery.” Eva knew that the Doctor wouldn’t like that at all especially after she’d been through surgery once before. She refrained from touching her midsection as it would only aggravate him more. 

The Doctor shot up from his chair, fully angry now. “You went into this knowing you would need surgery to remove it?! Of all the things I have ever heard that’s the worst! There are some holes in the explanation he gave you! AARON!” he bellowed at the doorway. “Get out here right now!” 

Aaron came out, glancing at Eva, wiping his hands. “He knows now, Aaron.” 

“Doctor, Eva won’t be harmed.”

“She needs surgery to remove that thing! Start from the top and don’t leave anything out!” 

“Fine. My planet doesn’t reproduce sexually, Doctor. We’re a pretty brainy race of aliens overall. We cultivate our young in labs using our genetic material and grow them artificially. We grow them to a certain point and then a female usually needs to take over. The organs have to mature which can take months and the mom’s biological processes will do the job.” 

“I understand,” the Doctor seemed calmer. “how big is she going to get?” Eva shook her head with a little smile. If there was one thing she hated about being pregnant it was getting bigger. Thanks to an alien race that wouldn’t happen now; it really was the little things in life that mattered, Eva hid a smile. 

“She isn’t. Like I said, Doctor, it’s already full grown for this stage of it’s life. Once we surgically extract the embryo it will grow very fast very quickly. Eva and the others would not be able to stand the rapid growth rate that happens so that’s why we extract them.” 

“How long til the surgery?” 

“Months, Doctor. The maturation rate is slow but once it’s ready to be extracted it sends us a telepathic signal and you’d have one week to get Eva to us.” 

“It’s not that bad then. Worst case scenario?” 

“If you don’t get her to us within 7 days she won’t survive. The embryo grows so rapidly no natural process could accelerate labor enough to keep up.” 

“And you signed up for this!” the Doctor rounded on Eva who looked a little perturbed. “That’s why you passed out earlier; your body went into shock because it couldn’t keep up, and you want to go the rest of the way?!” 

“I have no choice now. Doctor, you have a time machine,” she reminded him. “besides, I’m doing them a good thing. Maybe one day we’ll be glad I carried for them.” 

“That would be a long day coming,” he hissed. “I can’t believe the fact that you need surgery to get it out! This is just like you, Eva, acting impulsively without a thought of the consequences!” 

“Hey, hold on! Aaron told me I would need surgery before he, for lack of better word impregnated me!” 

“Don’t use that word!” Eva stood up and went right over to him. 

“Doctor, I know you’re concerned and you care about me which I am sorry to cause you any strife, BUT at the same time, I signed on for this of my own free will and I accept the consequences whatever they are. Please, try not to be mad at me. I just want to help people,” she said in a low voice in an attempt to calm him down. To really drive the point home, Eva put one hand on the side of his face. “remember, Doctor, I understand your point. I do act impulsively and I apologize for that. I will try to do better in the future.” the Doctor gazed at Eva with affection and pride in his face, the anger melting away. Eva’s eyes had a quiet confidence in them mixed with affection for her friend. A little smile tickled her features as the Doctor took her hand in his, pressing a kiss to her cheek. 

Aaron couldn’t believe it. Eva had calmed down the fiery volcano that was the Doctor with only her words. The Doctor was pacified, he went off to the medical lab to check the slime sample as Aaron watched Eva sit on the gurney they’d put her on earlier. 

“How did you do that?” 

“Everyone wants to be heard, Aaron. I owned up to my faults as he was calling me on them. That’s a rare glimpse of the Doctor being human you know. Besides he’s going to make stupid jokes at my expense later on, you’ll see.” she threw herself back onto the gurney, looking up at the ceiling for a long moment. 

“A little passive aggressive is he?” 

“Yeah, but I do not regret my decision,” her hands pressed down below her belt. “the embryo is very safe with me.” she assured Aaron, closing her eyes. 

“I knew it would be. Taking a nap are you?” 

“We’ve been up for hours and I’m exhausted,” she reminded Aaron. “a quick catnap shouldn’t hurt me.” 

“It won’t,” he pressed a kiss down on her lips. “have a good nap, all right?” 

“I will. I don’t think the Doctor realizes how draining he actually is.” 

“Aaron!” the Doctor bellowed again. 

“Duty calls. You want a blanket?”

“No, I’m warm enough.” Eva closed her eyes; Aaron wished her a sweet dreams.

**

“What did you find, Doctor?” Aaron walked into the medical lab. 

“Look at this. The slime is alkaline, basically harmless. There’s nothing in here that could contaminate and harm humans. Have you prepared the slides?”

“They’re right here,” Aaron had set up the slides next to two electron microscopes. The Doctor took three, Aaron took three, each adjusting the microscope to their desired magnification range. “look at that.” 

“We have an immune reaction yes,” the Doctor watched the cells target the enemy and destroy it. “I’d say that we need to analyze the symptoms more closely and see if it corroborates to a more known disease we can pin down.” 

“The crew showed symptoms but Eva was right-nothing really definite,” Aaron pondered thoughtfully. “how can we do that?” 

“The only way we know how,” the Doctor held up the vial of slime. “I need to put myself in harm’s way.” 

“You said there was no way it could hurt humans.” 

The Doctor grinned eerily. “Maybe I’m wrong and once it gets into our bloodstreams it could be a different story. I have to try, We certainly can’t try this on Eva now anyway.” 

“And the passive aggressive jokes begin,” Aaron sighed. “she warned me you’d do this.” 

“She was right!” the Doctor jumped up, loaded a syringe, then walked out into the ward area where Eva was lying asleep. “I’ll try to tell you each symptom I have-where did that girl go?” 

“She’s here, Doctor.” Aaron walked around Eva’s bed with the Doctor in tow. 

“She’s lying down on the job!” the Doctor teased, laying a hand on his friend’s. “I’m afraid we’re going to need her right now. Eva, wake up.” 

The medium’s eyes fluttered open foggily, focusing on her friend. “Doctor?” her voice was weak but alert. “What do you need?” 

“You and Aaron need to monitor me. I’m going to inject myself with the contaminant and see what happens,” the Doctor took off his jacket, loosened up his shirt then took his boots off. “make sure you chart my symptoms while you’re at it.” 

“All right,” Eva agreed, sitting up and pulling out a blank chart and a pen. “I hope it’s an easy one to figure out but at the rate we’re going..” 

The Doctor threw himself on the bed next to her, looking at her in surprise. “You won’t stop me?” 

“Doctor, I respect your decisions and I don’t try to stop you,” Eva assumed an air of superiority. “besides, you’re the best fit amongst us to do it. What I want you to do is change into a gown; you’re going to get pretty sweaty and gross before you know it. You’ll be more comfortable as well.” 

“Throwing my actions back at me, are you,” the Doctor smiled, hitching up his sleeve. “you’ve got a point about the gross factor there. Hand me a gown and I’ll change,” the Doctor hustled off to change, then threw himself on the bed again, extending an arm. “All right, Aaron!” the orderly injected him. 

“OK, patient log. The Doctor, feeling spry and chipper today, not a thing wrong, injects himself with unknown slime.” Eva noted wryly, writing it all down, including the time that they started. 

“Standing by with medication ready. Doctor, I’m going to start an IV in you just for easy access,” Aaron installed a needle in the crook of the Doctor’s left arm, taping it down securely. “I hope it isn’t as bad as we think it is.” 

After a few moments of small talk the Doctor reported that he felt very dizzy and tired. He closed his eyes, leaving Eva and Aaron to note that his temperature had started creeping up. The Doctor thought he felt a heaviness in his arms, like something was weighing him down, then his hearts started to speed up. 

“It’s like that with the others and me,” Aaron told Eva. “what do you want me to give him?” 

“At this point, something to slow his hearts down. His fever is only 102 and I don’t want to give him anything for that just yet.” Eva noted. Aaron wrote down the dosage and medication he was giving the Doctor, administering it through the IV port. It took a minute or two but the Doctor’s hearts slowed down back to their normal pace. 

Twenty minutes after the initial infection the Doctor’s skin had red dots all over it like Aaron had. “It’s a skin disease.. hang on a minute,” Eva put on gloves and probed the area carefully. “look, it’s little pustules in the center of each rash here. Wanna grab me a vial, Aaron?” 

“Biopsy it?” 

“Oh yes. More like evacuating a wound,” Eva took a small plastic basin and using a sharp lancet, punctured the pustule. Out of the wound there was a trickle of pus which she collected and sent Aaron off to look at it under a microscope. “it is possible that the white blood cells have a dead copy of the virus or bacteria that we can isolate and study,” she spoke aloud thinking that the Doctor could still hear her. “Aaron will find out. Doctor, I hope you’re still in there somewhere,” she stroked her friend’s flushed forehead. “I’m going to give you something for your fever now.” the fever was 105 degrees, dangerous enough for him to go into a seizure. Eva selected an antipyretic medication and gave it to him intravenously, noticing how his eyes moved under his lids. 

“I think you’ll be all right now, Doctor,” Eva exhaled, taking her jacket and shoes off. She removed the makeup from her face, pushed her bed next to his, got onto the bed with a sigh. “I’m going to sleep now and when I wake up, you need to be all right.” she took her friend’s hand. The Doctor had always been there for her when she was sick or hurt and now it was her turn to reciprocate. Eva was determined not to fail. 

**

It took Aaron several hours while Eva slept and the Doctor fought the fever but he’d managed to isolate the dead virus from the white blood cells. The orderly fed the information to a medication synthesizer which analyzed the properties of the dead virus and could produce a cure. It would take about four more hours of work but the orderly was not surprised. He could get a break now. Walking into the ward Aaron reflected that it had been a very weird day but if they could get a cure for whatever was ailing the crew it would be worth it in the end. The focal point of the day for him was Eva. 

Eva was quite a pretty woman and it was the first thing he saw after he’d exited the medical bay, freshly woken up from the stasis. Aaron had hung around, watching her as she registered herself as a nurse but after the Doctor had walked off to go look at the power stacks in the engine room he’d made his move. The orderly’s highly developed senses detected Eva’s pheromones she was emitting, somehow more powerful than other women, then knew she would be the one to do him a good turn. 

“Something about you, Eva, makes me crazy.” Aaron was a young alien from Titan and his sexuality was still maturing. It was a matter of months before he reached full maturity; in which his adult status would be confirmed and he would become disinterested like the rest of his race. 

“How’s the Doctor doing?” Aaron checked the Doctor’s temperature, amazed when it was 105 degrees. “Damn! I think I need to give you a steroid for that one,” he selected prednisolone, wrote it down, then gave the Doctor a big dose of it. “aw, look at that. Eva’s got your hand, Doctor. If that’s not love I don’t know what is.” he hung a saline bag from the rack behind the Doctor to hydrate him. 

On some level the Doctor heard and understood all that was going on around him. The Time Lord fought the effects of the disease, knowing his fever was high and he would likely go into a seizure in a few minutes’ time. Flashes of Eva came to his mind; her smile, her adventurous spirit, the way she reveled in adventure and lived for the moment, so like him. He still couldn’t believe what she’d done to herself but it was all in the name of helping another race and the Doctor was very pro helping out so he respected her for it. 

The Doctor had a series of images drift through his mind; Eva in severe pain, recovering from her surgery, but the worst image of all was Eva lying on the cold stone tomb with her eyes closed, nearly lifeless from hypothermia. He shouted for her, told her to wake up, but it was useless. Eva looked dead to his eyes but he refused to accept it, back then and now. Just like before the Doctor cut her free, brought her into the TARDIS and lay her on the floor while he moved the ship away. When the TARDIS was free of the planet, he clasped Eva’s hand, brought it to her midsection, then radiated his Time Lord warmth down into them. Eva’s circulatory system lit up, meaning his warmth was resuscitating her. More warmth lit up inside her, the Doctor could see the embryo was nice and warm as well. 

With renewed vigor, the Doctor kept on fighting the disease. Eva would always be a motivation for him to be an outstanding Time Lord and help people so help he must. 

Aaron went to bed until the synthesizer woke him up four hours later. It felt like he hadn’t slept at all but still he soldiered on, not allowing himself to wake up Eva, who’d had more sleep time than he had. Her body was under a different kind of strain, he thought, looking down at her. Aaron checked the Doctor’s fever which was still raging, then injected the medication. 

“The steroids didn’t even make a dent in it!” amazed, the orderly hovered nearby the Doctor until there was some sign of improvement. He logged every little thing in the Doctor’s chart, noticing that the fever was starting to go down in increments. 

An hour later the fever had gone down to 100 degrees. The Doctor stirred, opening up his eyes and looking dazed. Aaron leaned forward and muttered a hello. “You’ve had us worried, Doctor.” 

“How bad was it?” he rubbed his eyes blearily. 

“Pretty bad. Your fever shot up to 105 degrees and you were really sick for awhile. I’m amazed you didn’t have a seizure.” Aaron checked the Doctor’s vital signs which were perfectly normal. 

“How did my fever come down?” 

“That was due to Eva actually.” 

“Where is she?” 

“She’s right beside you, sound asleep. Anyway she noticed in your red rashes that there were little pinpoint raised bumps so she lanced one of them and drained off the exudate. I then isolated the virus inside and put it in the medication synthesizer to make a cure.” 

“Clever,” Eva was on his left so he shifted position so he could see her. “always looking out for me.” 

“You’re a lucky man, Doctor. Not everyone has a devoted friend like you.” Aaron was a bit bitter and the Doctor didn’t fail to notice it. If Eva hadn’t been a visitor he would have been tempted to get together with her. Just her scent was enough to drive Aaron mad with desire. 

“So it seems,” the Doctor answered Aaron. “go to sleep; you look all done in.” he knew Eva was definitely ‘in heat’ as the screwdriver aptly put it and he could sense that Aaron was aroused by her so they did not need to be together in the same room alone. The Doctor trusted Eva almost implicitly but she was a human and with being human came sexual desires. Sometimes humans couldn’t help themselves so the Doctor took it upon himself to save Eva from her basic human instinct to mate. 

“Thanks. Now you’re out of danger I’ll sleep better.” Aaron said truthfully, going back to his bed. 

“Eva,” the Doctor whispered. “I’m back and here to protect you both,” he maneuvered his hand and hers to her waist. “whatever it takes.” he may have been mad before but the Doctor was primarily concerned with her own welfare like Eva was concerned with his. The medium did not stir; the Doctor hoped her rest was long and deep like his was about to be. 

**

Several hours later Eva woke up and realized she hadn’t slept so well in a long time. There was a strange weight on her belly so she looked down, seeing her hand in the Doctor’s, his splayed out like he was trying to feel something. 

He wouldn’t be able to. Eva had been pregnant before and she hadn’t liked it one bit. What was so attractive about carrying an embryo for Aaron was that there was no growth, her moods could stay regular and she could keep her figure. The medium did not mind the surgery that came with it, she wasn’t going to endure labor at all and she didn’t get saddled with childcare for the next 18 years. 

The Doctor looked like himself again, Eva noted. He wasn’t red in the face anymore, the red marks had gone so they’d finally managed a medication that worked. Smiling to herself she bestowed a kiss on the cheek to her friend, then she detached her hand from his and got up. 

“Morning,” Aaron greeted her, rubbing his damp hair. “sleep well?” 

“I did, surprisingly. How’s progress?” 

“The Doctor has been cured. Now all we need to do is synthesize enough doses for the crew so we can wake them up and proceed on our mission.” 

“What is your mission anyway?” 

“To proceed to Mars and help to terraform it.” 

“That’s a lofty pursuit. Where’s the shower? I feel grimy.” he pointed her in the right direction as the Doctor woke up. 

“Hi, Doctor. Soon as Eva’s done with the shower you can have a go. I’ll go fetch us some breakfast.” Aaron told him, opening up the door and disappearing. 

The Doctor gathered up his clothes, finding a shower stall in the communal bathroom. “Morning, Doctor!” Eva greeted him, averting her eyes. “You look frightful!” 

“So do you without any makeup!” he shot back, shutting the door. 

The medium laughed, her happy spirits were back up after a good night’s sleep. “He’s back!” fumbling in her jacket pocket she pulled out two tubes, one a lipstick and the other one an eyeshadow stick. “Does he really think I would forget makeup in case we spend the night wherever?” she took the cap off the stick which revealed a silvery blue which she put all over her eyelids. The lipstick was a dark mauve which she put on expertly, smiled, then left the bathroom. 

“Eva-god, you really can’t leave the TARDIS without some gunk on your face, can you?”

“It’s called a no makeup makeup look. Where are you off to?” 

“Setting some booby traps for our little vermin friends who got into the electrical system. Back in a tick.” the Doctor disappeared. Eva sat down at the desk again, watching the Doctor on the monitor. He pulled off the cover to the circuit breakers, put on a rubber glove, then moved aside the rubber gasket. As Eva watched he pulled out a big slug like creature, dumped it in a little bucket, then sealed the top. Eva made a noise of disgust as the Doctor happily put the bucket into one of the fuel tubes where it was instantly vaporized. 

“So that’s what’s making everyone sick,” she said to herself. “I hope it didn’t build a nest somewhere.” the Doctor deployed his traps, theorizing that the slugs liked the electricity because it was warm, then turned and gave a thumbs up to the monitor. 

“Hi-wow,” Aaron nearly walked into her. “you look fantastic.” 

“Hi, thanks.” Eva could sense the pheromones he was giving off. 

“Plenty to keep you both happy and well,” they dug in. “listen Eva, I have to say I have never met a woman like you before. I only have seven months left before adult maturity sets in and I become disinterested in sex, but we can make those months very happy..” 

The Doctor was at the doorway, all ready to have breakfast when he heard Aaron pretty much propose to Eva. He hung back, well aware that Eva wouldn’t like it if he intervened. 

Eva looked up at Aaron, exhaling a tiny sigh. “I thought that would come up at some point. Look Aaron, I’m much older than you are-” 

“Age doesn’t matter! It’s just a number!” he quickly shouted her down on that argument. 

“No, listen to me, Aaron. You have some months left of your teen years and you should enjoy those. It’s too late now, you’re committed to five more years of the same space life and terraform another planet. Your time for experimentation is over sexually. My time for that is over too.” 

“What are you saying? Did I make the mistake of putting an embryo inside you then?” his eyes, green as a lush lawn, grew cold.

“You gave me a gift to take care of and I will do that. But if you’re trying to dangle it over my head as incentive to be with you then I can’t do that,” Eva’s eyes grew hard and equally icy. “you’re committed to your plans and I am with mine.” 

“With the Doctor? Isn’t he old for you?” the Doctor clenched his hand into a fist. 

“Didn’t you just say age is just a number?” Eva countered swiftly. “He’s my friend and has saved my life at least 3 times now. I owe him everything and I swore not to get involved in a personal level with people that we meet.” she finished her breakfast and stood up. 

“So what are you saying?” 

“I’m saying, Aaron, that you’re asking me of things that I can’t give you. Your synthesizer is done making drugs, the crew will be waking up soon, and the Doctor and me will be leaving. Our job is done.” 

“So that’s all I am to you? A job?” Aaron stood up as well, glaring at Eva who pretended not to notice. She picked up her jacket from the chair and put it on. 

“Yes,” she said simply. “you are. All I have to say now is thanks for the embryo. I’ll take great care of it; you’ve given me a wonderful gift. But there isn’t a future for you and me, Aaron. I do not feel the same way as you do.” 

Still hidden, the Doctor knew that it must have been a bit of a struggle for Eva to get those words out. Aaron was standing at the entranceway as if to block Eva off and force her to submit to him. Eva recognized the defensive body language but walked right up to him anyway. “Doctor? I’m ready.” she called out. The Doctor walked out casually like he didn’t know what was going on. He didn’t say a word; he didn’t need to. Eva gave Aaron a benign look to which he only got more defensive. 

“You’re committed to your purpose and I’m committed to mine. If you try to stop me I will drop kick your ass on the floor and so help me god,” Eva said firmly. “step aside.” 

Aaron’s eyes shifted from Eva to the Doctor who looked at him grimly. “It’s two against one, Aaron. Be sensible.” 

The orderly stepped aside, eyes going to Eva’s waist again. The Doctor wanted to say something to the distraught orderly but he didn’t want to add to the situation any. Silently he walked past Aaron, bringing up the rear as Eva reached to her lapel, tore off her badge and threw it down the hallway. The Doctor merely removed his badge and put it in his pocket. 

**

“Welcome to Nerva II,” the automated voice spoke again. The Doctor looked into Eva’s face which was carefully neutral in the bright light. “state how many people are inside the pod.” 

“Two.” they both said together. The red light scanned them both. 

“Three heartbeats present.” the Doctor had momentarily forgotten that Eva was in fact pregnant now with an alien embryo. He thought the adventures ahead would be more interesting but one never knew. 

Eva was silent as they walked back to the TARDIS but once the doors had closed behind her she put her hands to her face, exhaling loudly. 

“All right, are you?” the Doctor pulled the switch as she sat down and kept her face to her hands. When she didn’t answer for a long moment he inched closer to her. “Eva, talk to me.” 

“I was a huge idiot, Doctor,” she answered him at last. “stupid me.” 

“What about? Your preg-” 

“No, not that! I’d do it a thousand times over honestly, Doctor. I had a room to let out, so to speak so I said sure, what the hell,” Eva steepled her hands together, her brown eyes shining up at her friend. “I’m talking about Aaron.” 

“What about him?” the Doctor punched a random button. 

“Have you ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome?” 

“Of course.” 

“I think that Aaron was in love with me, honestly,” Eva leaned forward. “we saved them by checking a few odds and ends that worked in the end so Aaron fell in love with the woman who lanced your pustule, found the dead organism, synthesized a cure.” 

Eva was so charmingly misguided at times. “You really think that?” 

“I do, Doctor.” 

“I think you’re wrong on that count, girl,” he teased, bringing up the sonic screwdriver. Adjusting the readout he handed it to her. “I think it was purely a physiological response to your pheromones.” 

Eva saw the sonic read out and laughed. “So I was putting on airs, was I?” 

“I thought that your acceptance of the embryo was just another one of your impulsive acts. You get impulsive you know, around your fertile time of the month.” 

“I thought I had been making progress on that front,” she stood up. “Doctor, I made an informed choice regarding the embryo. I don’t regret it. Aaron on the other hand proved himself to be a way more impulsive teenager who is emotionally immature. He thought he could dangle what’s inside of me as leverage, permission to get into my pants as it was. I should have known better when he kissed me.” 

“He did what?!” the Doctor jumped up. 

“He kissed me, Doctor,” Eva shut her eyes briefly. “a hormonally driven teenager to the last. There’s a reason why things need to mature including embryos.” 

“Anyway, what say we get some breakfast and think about our plans for today? A new planet to visit?” 

“I’ll think about that later. Now I have my own passenger on board and I’ve got to take care of it.” 

“Do you now? So does it remain inert inside you?” Eva turned away, marching towards the hallway when she felt something. Stopping and grasping the rail, sucking in a breath, she clasped a hand to her belly, smiling. “Eva, what’s wrong? I don’t want you having issues already!” 

“Yes, Doctor!” she faced him. “I felt something.” 

“Already?”

“It’s musculoskeletal system is apparently mature enough now! Still, nothing like what I’ve experienced before!” the color came back into her cheeks. “Ain’t science interesting.”


	6. Secret Society

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eva goes to a meeting of a secret society which the Doctor tries to snoop and find out more. He is attacked, Eva finds him and treats his injuries. Later on in his weakened state the truth comes out concerning Eva and what happened on Nerva II.

Eva changed her clothes, wearing her white jeans, bright pink t-shirt and a navy blue hoodie. She paused and admired her reflection in the mirror, glancing down to make sure her shape hadn’t changed, The medium put a lip gloss on over the lipstick she’d worn on Nerva II, then slipped a ring on her right middle finger. The ring had a bright cubic zirconia in the middle with three garnets curved around the left hand side of the cushion cut stone. 

“Doctor?” Eva pocketed her gloss then went to the console room. The Doctor was nowhere to be seen so she glanced in his room. “Oh,” the Doctor was still a bit under the weather from his adventure on Nerva II and he deserved some sack time. Smiling, Eva spread a blanket over her friend while he slept on, oblivious. “sleep well my friend.” he stirred a little bit but did not wake up. 

In the corridor Eva’s phone rang. She fished it out of her pocket, slid the bar across, then checked the time. “Hi, Miranda!” she listened for a long moment. “You need some people to help you out tonight? Sure, I’ll be there. Is it 7 PM? Yeah, I know the drill. I memorized the book. I’ll be able to come and help. See you soon.” 

Eva hung up, marching back to the console room. She had seen the Doctor operate the TARDIS several times; all she needed was the coordinates to her building, the proper time, and she would be back soon. 

“Well,” she ran her hand under the red light dot that was on one side of the TARDIS console. “I am an engineer’s daughter after all!” Eva quickly turned her location, date and time into a QR code and waved the code underneath the red light scanner. The TARDIS roared to life, time rotor columns spinning away as it obediently went to Eva’s destination. 

“I don’t need my book, I have my ring, I’ll be able to get in all right. I remember all the passwords. Oh, I need to leave a message for the Doctor in case he wakes up while I’m away.” Eva recorded a message with the TARDIS’s camera. 

The ship landed with a banging thump, Eva peered out of the door and grinned when she saw the building looming overhead. She had landed the TARDIS in the graveyard right next door to the property so nobody would notice it. Quickly she shut the TARDIS, locked it, then shoved the key in her pocket, hoping that her friend would not wake up any time soon. Security was tight at her building and they were very secretive. 

At the building door, she rapped three times and heard a scraping noise. Night settled over the sky as a peephole opened up and she saw an eye looking back at her. “State your business.” 

“Initiatory ceremony.” 

“Building number?” 

“02443.” 

“Password?” 

“Mordecai.” the door unlocked. 

“Enter.” 

“Thanks.” she went inside the building. Eva walked into the foyer, flashed her ring under a scanner, then she was allowed entrance into the room upstairs. “Hey, everyone, glad to see you! So are we doing this tonight?” 

“Hey, she’s back!” Eva received a hug from one of her friends. “It’s been awhile, stranger.” 

“Thanks, Miranda,” Miranda was a petite lady in her fifties with blonde hair and brown eyes. She beamed at her friend and handed her a red robe. “how many on deck tonight for initiation?” the medium had to hold her breath while she put the robe on; they stank of neglect and faint mold. The organization was going to get them dry cleaned at some point. 

“Three new people,” Miranda said happily. “do you remember the tunes to play at the organ?” 

“Yes I do. Let’s do this!” Eva’s eyes lit up and she went into the big room which was reminiscent of a church sanctuary. The pews were moved so they were against the wall and two platforms had been set at opposite ends. Eva pulled a knob from the old organ, waited a moment, then she began to play. 

**

On board the TARDIS the Doctor stirred, mumbling to himself. “Eva..” he moaned, still half in the grip of a dream about his friend. He had been dreaming that she was taken from him and forced to undergo surgery to remove something unnecessarily. In the dream the Doctor was standing in a white room while Eva was lying in bed, white sheets covered her up except for one hand and her head. The Doctor picked up Eva’s limp hand, repeatedly told her to wake up, but she wouldn’t. He sat by her bedside, putting his fingers to the pulse in her neck but there was no pulse to feel. A wave of emotional pain hit him, he put his face in one hand, letting one tear escape. 

“Eva!” he exclaimed, sitting upright in bed, feeling a cold sweat break out all over his body. That was the second dream he’d had about her that night; it had only been about 8 hours since they’d left Nerva II. 

“That illness isn’t through with me,” the Doctor declared, writing off the dreams completely. “Eva? Are you up?” he dressed in his usual black pants but chose a black collared shirt with white polka dots and the burgundy peacoat. Jamming his feet into his boots, the Doctor tucked the end of the laces into the boots themselves and went across the hall to Eva’s room. Nobody was there. 

“Eva? Where are you?” in the console room he noticed that the message light was flashing so he flipped the switch. A holographic image appeared of his friend. 

“Hi, Doctor,” the image began. “I got a call back home and I have to obey it. I flew the TARDIS home and I will be back within the hour, I promise.” 

“How did you pilot my ship, you stupid girl?” he sneered, thinking that was the exact last thing that he or anyone else needed was for Eva to start mucking around with his ship. 

“No questions as to how I brought the TARDIS here, Doctor,” Eva had an irritating smirk on her face. “I am sworn to secrecy but I will be back. Stay put, please. You are not allowed inside. Over and out.” 

“Are you in trouble?” the Doctor said in disbelief. “I’ve got to get in there!” 

The Doctor left the TARDIS, locked it, then followed the worn path to the building, knocking on the door. The door remained silent as the Doctor heard organ music overhead. Climbing up the hill and peered into the arched windows, the Doctor could see the scene before him. People were robed completely in black in what looked like monk robes, except for the organist who was clothed in red. Brilliant white light seemed to fill the big room and the Doctor observed some of the regalia that was mounted on the walls. Three brightly colored pennants with abbreviations that made no sense to him were dangling proudly. The Doctor heard the music stop, the organist walked out of the big room and disappeared behind the door. 

“What sort of society is this?” the Doctor pulled out his phone, typed in ‘black monk robe, group,” and Googled it. Nothing of any value came up so he was forced to keep watching. He could see they were about to start talking so the Doctor spied a window that was ajar, put a little earpiece on the pane as far in as he could manage, then put the other earpiece in his ear. 

“Steward!” boomed one of the black cloaked figures. “Are the new members present?” 

“They are, Supreme.” a member called back, standing beside the door with a black shiny staff. 

“Let the guide bring them in!” three knocks sounded on the door and the steward opened it. A member of the assembly, wearing a lurid green robe, entered the room with three people who meekly followed. The guide assembled the three in front of the Supreme who looked sternly down. 

“The Guide has brought you in here because you have indicated interest in joining the Trinity Society!” the Supreme barked out. “Are you prepared to take our vows, uphold our values, and never speak a word of the society to nonmembers?” 

The three people indicated that they did. “Very well then. Let it be said that if you break the sacred oath, act hostile to other members, or steal from the society you will be excommunicated! Guide, you may begin!” 

“The Trinity Society?” the Doctor was enthralled and kept watching. He noticed that each member wore a gold chain with a medallion around their necks. What the Doctor knew about secret societies was rather scant; he knew that each medallion must have represented the office in which they held. 

“Thank you, Supreme!” the Guide faced all three candidates. “Turn behind you!” two members of the society had brought something up behind the candidates in a wooden box. 

“They got the ark of the covenant in there?” the Doctor saw the gold painted box and rather elaborately painted top. “It’s nice, but not as nice as the real one.” 

Whatever was in the box startled all three of the candidates. The Guide moved to the other side of the box and pointed in. “There! From dust you come and to dust you will be when your mortal time on this earth is done! Look deeply at this poor soul,” the Guide removed the skull and held it up, making the three people squeak in fear. “and ask yourself ‘what will people see when my time is up?’ what will you make of your life? For in your life are good deeds to perform, people to extend a helping hand to. Yet in death they need us as we help to preserve their legacies!” the Guide sure knew how to enunciate and hold an audience, the Doctor thought. “For out of dust our spirit takes flight and lives on in the heavens! Our loved ones we hold the dear in our hearts but when it comes time to do the dead a favor like repair a stone, the number of helpers is surprisingly scarce! Do you agree?” 

The candidates could do nothing but agree. The Doctor silently muttered that he agreed too. In the planet of the dead he’d seen many stones in disrepair and even out in the cemetery near the building there were crumbling stones. 

“Our trinity!” said the Steward, moving around with the Guide to stand a little ways away from the Supreme. “The trinity we have, three stones, for life is the smallest, the dead is the second, and spirit is the biggest. Spirit as in spirit of the dead, yes, but also it is our goodwill, our spirits that help the cemeteries rebuild monuments, reset stones, and keep our cemeteries tidy. Now all of you, if you are certain you want to do this, step forward!” 

All three of the candidates were instructed to kneel before the Guide and the Steward. They were made to swear a solemn oath of allegiance to the society, to never reveal the secrets or location of their headquarters. The Doctor was reminded of the pomp and circumstance of becoming a Time Lord but the humans had a much tamer way of going about it. 

“Supreme, I introduce to you our three new members!” the Guide and Steward said together. The members repeated their names, adding either ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ before them, knelt on one knee before the Supreme, and received their chains of new rank. 

“These chains of new rank will be removed at your one year anniversary of membership, at which time you will be eligible to take an office that you are interested in. We strongly urge you to take part in meetings; remember what you get out of our society depends on what you put into it. Welcome!” 

The meeting went on but the Doctor tuned them out, removing the earpieces. About five minutes before the end of the meeting, someone left. The Doctor heard someone creeping up near him but whoever it was he didn’t know. A sharp pain blossomed at the back of his head and he collapsed, unconscious. 

**

“Well, that was interesting!” Eva lowered the hood of her green robe, took it off and hung it up. “Will you guys be needing my help anytime soon?” 

“No,” the Steward, Miranda, replied, hanging up her robe. “we have several workshops all planned and right now we have enough people. I’ll keep you informed and don’t be such a stranger, all right? What have you been doing nowadays anyway? I heard you quit nursing.” 

“Well, I’m a caretaker for an eccentric old man now. Much easier than patients I can tell you that,” the two women strolled outside for some fresh air. “he pays me well and I often tease him and call him Bruce Wayne.” the gentle night wind blew Eva’s hair back while the streetlight cast eerie shadows on the edge of the building. It was a good night for spirits to roam around in the dark. 

“Loaded, huh?” Miranda walked to her car and unlocked it with a little chirp from the key fob and loaded her tote bag in, getting ready to leave for the night. Like Eva she shared a love for leather jackets and jeans, wearing a dark brown pair with ankle boots. 

“Yes. I’ll try to get a donation but he’s really stingy. When is the annual gathering?” 

“Not for a long time but we’ll see you before then, right? Where are you going?” Eva walked near the back of the building. 

“I’m parked on the other side; I’ll see you guys later!” she called, walking off. Miranda waved goodbye and went into the building again. 

“What the?” Eva tripped over something and fell down. She sat up, rubbing her belly. “Oh, sorry, embryo. What the hell is this?” she kicked at what tripped her and heard a grunt. The medium pulled hard and saw an arm. “Someone assault someone out here? I’m a nurse, let’s see what we got.” she pulled hard and saw the Doctor’s face. “Doctor!” she hissed. “I told you not to leave the TARDIS!” 

He couldn’t answer her now so Eva, swearing angrily, hoisted him up, her arms underneath his armpits, and dragged him back into the TARDIS. She slammed the door, pulled the dematerialization switch, then pushed the Doctor into a chair by the console. Eva pushed her hair away from her face, exhaled, leaning down so she could examine the Doctor’s injuries. 

“Oh, who did this to you? That’s a hell of a whack you got there-you’re going to be out for awhile. I’ll need to examine you in the sick bay,” Eva steeled herself, hoisting him up in a fireman’s carry again, bringing him down the hall and into the sick bay. She lowered a bed, stripped him down to his t-shirt and boxers, then got him onto the bed. Bringing it back up she turned on the overhead light so she could see better. “first things first.” she put an ice pack on the back of his head, used a blanket to cover up his lower half, then yanked up his shirt to check for bruising. 

“Damn,” the phone blasted in her pocket so Eva picked it up, punching the button. “Miranda, hi. Really? Some snoop trying to get our secrets outside? No, no idea who it could be. I didn’t notice anything at all. That’s really weird.” the medium picked up the Doctor’s hand and pressing down she timed his pulse. Saying goodbye to Miranda, Eva put her phone away and gave her unconscious friend a sarcastic glare. 

“You snoop. I’d smack you but you got your just desserts out there. My god, did the person kick you? You are really bruised.” there was a big bruise on the right side of his ribcage. Eva winced for him, going over to the freezer and pulling out a bigger ice pack. The Doctor had a few cuts, one on his right arm and another near his right temple so Eva cleaned and bandaged those. 

“You look really tired, Doctor. How is that possible? We left Nerva II about 10 hours ago. You’re not still sick I know that so you’ve been having nightmares,” she turned off the overhead light and used a small desk lamp to give the room enough illumination. Hesitating a bit she lowered the bed enough so she could sit down and still reach the Time Lord. “it’s affecting your health so I don’t feel bad about doing this.” just like the Doctor would do to her, Eva put her fingertips on the Doctor’s temples and concentrated. 

**

The medium opened up her eyes, her brown gaze fixed on the Doctor. He seemed to be sleeping more restfully now, she thought with a grin. Eva wiped the lipstick off her lips, leaned over and kissed the Doctor on the cheek. “Sweet dreams, Doctor.” she spread another blanket over him, hoping that he wouldn’t be out for too long. 

Eva didn’t want to leave the Doctor alone so she settled down in the chair, picked up a medical book and began to test her mind. “The hell? This is a book on alien anatomy! What is a Dalek anyway?” 

She didn’t get too far down the index when she felt something poke her hard. Eva grunted in pain, wondering what it was but remembered. A little smile spread itself across her face, she rested one hand low on her belly as she thrust the book away and reclined back. A little sign of life from inside her always made her smile; it seemed to be happening a little more frequently now. 

An hour elapsed while the Doctor muttered to himself a little bit and Eva wasn’t asleep but she dozed fitfully. Something woke Eva up, a little nudge from inside, which made her smile again. She leaned over to check on the Doctor; he seemed to be close to rousing himself. 

“Doctor, time to wake up now,” she tested him, putting one hand across his brow. The Doctor’s eyes opened slowly, softening a little to see Eva there. “hi.” 

“Hi. What happened to me?” his voice was thick and raspy sounding. 

“You tell me. I found you in the shrubs outside my building,” she was deliberately being evasive. “someone attack you?” 

“Someone did and I don’t know who. I want to-” the Doctor groaned in pain as he tried to lift up his head. 

“No, don’t move. I’ll get you a painkiller,” Eva gave him a shot. “it’s got a mild sedative in it so it’ll give you enough time to get to your bed where you’ll be more comfortable.” 

“No, I’ve got to get to the console room,” the Doctor nearly fell out of bed. Eva grabbed his arm to stabilize him, draping a robe over his shoulders. “need to go back..” 

“You’re not going to the console room right now, Doctor. You’re hurt and you need rest. Come on now, bed.” Eva insisted, grabbing his hands and steering him in the direction of his bedroom. The Doctor tried to resist her but his muscles were not cooperating with him. 

“Curse you, Eva,” the Doctor growled angrily. “I need to bring the TARDIS back to Nerva, before you...” 

“No, it can wait-it’s a time machine after all,” Eva reminded him. “to your own bed before I hurt you! On the double!” she commanded. The Doctor responded automatically to her tone, going off to his own bedroom and lying down. 

“Now, I order you to have better dreams this time!” the sedative effect should keep him under for several hours, enough time for Eva to get some sleep as well. “Good night, Doctor.” she kissed him again, taking off her jacket and putting it over him. 

**

In the TARDIS morning Eva awakened slowly, enjoying herself and a nice slow morning ahead of her. She got up, showered, exfoliated her face, then chose from her eyeshadow stick collection a nice cotton candy pink to wear. Eva partnered that with a simple lip balm that was scented lightly with vanilla. Wearing her Trinity Society earrings, the medium thought about mixing up her look a little bit that day with a pink tank top and a yellow-pink patterned skirt that went to her knee. Eva put on her usual running shoes then went into the Doctor’s room. 

He wasn’t there. In the console room she found the Doctor sitting near the console but as soon as he spied her he got up and began adjusting switches and dials. “You’re up!” 

“So are you and you know you shouldn’t be,” Eva got onto the platform, watching as his fingers stumbled over the knobs. “you have a head injury, Doctor. Back to bed before I sedate you again.” 

“I’m fine now!” the Doctor brushed her off, whirling around to grab a monitor and missing completely, making Eva grab him by the arms and force him away from the console. She made him sit down in a chair, forcing him to be still while she checked the TARDIS monitors. 

“You are not, says the nurse!” rather than engage in pushing and pulling, Eva brought up one of the monitors, keyed into the TARDIS’s search engine SLEEP MODE and found out how to access it. The medium found the switch, hidden on the underside of the console, pressed it, then the cloister bell sounded once. The columns stopped rotating and the TARDIS went silent. 

The Doctor rounded on her, standing up unsteadily. “What did you do? How did you do that?” 

“I put the TARDIS on sleep mode, Doctor.” 

“How?”

“I’m the daughter of an engineer, Doctor. I grew up along with technology,” she folded her arms. “now we can do this the easy or hard way.” 

“About what?” 

“Feigned innocence doesn’t work on you, Doctor. What’s so important that we have to go to Nerva II right now?” 

“I need to stop you from taking that THING from Aaron!” he spat out distastefully. 

“The embryo?” she need a little clarity though Eva already knew. 

“Yeah, that thing that’s inside you!” the Doctor sat down in a chair. 

“Doctor, that’s in the past now. Why are you so worked up over it?” she leaned on the console a little bit, not minding him staring at her waist though Eva privately thought it was rude. 

“Because you need surgery now, Eva! Did you forget what happened last time? You almost died!” 

“I had to have that surgery because I was in severe pain and I would have died if I didn’t have it!” she reminded him, walking to him and kneeling down so she could meet his eyes. “I think you got your facts a little messed up. I’m here now because of you!” Eva put a hand over his. “You saved my life.” 

“I guess I did, didn’t I?” he muttered, avoiding her eyes. 

“You did,” she turned his face so he looked her in the eye. “I hate adding to your huge ego but it’s true. You really came through for me, Doctor.” 

“I did. Then you go and do that!” the Doctor indicated her waist. 

“Yes I did, Doctor. I made a choice. Why do you not support me in it?” 

“I do, Eva.” 

“You don’t, Doctor,” her no bullshit attitude sprang up again. “you’ve been radiating disapproval since you found out I got pregnant. Do you think the embryo will hurt me? Maybe that the surgery will kill me?” The Doctor winced and looked away. “Look, Doctor, I can give you all reassurances I have but they won’t do any good until you look inside yourself and just accept that my choices are my choices. I support you and you should be supporting me.” 

“I think the head injury’s making me foolish but I agree with you,” the Doctor rubbed the painful spot on his head. “I can’t hold your decision against you, Eva.” 

“That’s what I need to hear, Doctor. Thanks.” Eva said softly, straightening up and leaning against the console again. The Time Lord stood up as well, taking his friend’s hands, putting them down at her sides, then with a few fingers, tilted her chin up so she could look him in the eye. 

The Doctor looked at Eva, admiring her deep brown eyes then noticing something different about them “Do you know you have a ring of blue around your eyes?” 

“I do?” she had never noticed anything about her eyes before. 

“Yes. That’s very rare in humans,” the Doctor found himself staring even more. “it’s a hypnotic effect-you have a star in your eyes!” 

“Nice. So, do I have your complete and unconditional support as a friend? I’ll need your help after the surgery.” the Doctor grasped her upper arms in a friendly squeeze. 

“That’s not for awhile yet so why don’t we enjoy ourselves first?” 

“No Nerva visit?” she had to make sure.

“No. What should we do today?” 

“Well, for a start,” Eva took his hand and led him down to the living room. “I think we need to sit back, have some ice cream and watch some movies. What do you think?” 

“Sounds like fun. No alien movies; you humans always get it wrong,” he sank down onto the sectional with Eva right beside him. “how about this one?” 

“Oh, I’ve never heard of it,” Eva shuffled through the DVD collection. “How about some Bohemian Rhapsody?”

“I’ve never seen it but you won’t let me alone until I watch it,” the Doctor watched as Eva turned on the TV and slid the disc into the slot. “we’ll get ice cream later on. Snuggle up now.” 

“Have you lost your mind? Watching a movie and snuggling? Mr. Anti Physical Contact guy wants to snuggle now?!” Eva teased him. “Head injuries do change you. Then again, you were unconscious in the bushes for over an hour so I suppose you might be more susceptible to a head cold. It was pretty chilly out there.” 

“Ugh. Not again.” he remembered the last time he was sick. Eva curled up next to him and they both settled in to watch BoRhap. When it was over, the medium found herself getting drowsy; the Doctor was already sleeping easily. Smiling to herself she leaned over a little bit, kissed his cheek then felt the Doctor’s arm rest around her back, hugging her to him. Eva was amazed now; he was actually cuddling with her! She got more comfortable, straightening her legs out then relaxed against the Doctor. 

An hour later the Doctor woke up, seeing Eva’s head rested against his shoulder. The Time Lord rarely showed such affection towards his companions but with Eva he felt justified. She seemed to connect with him a deeper level that few people could get to. Eva’s right hand was resting at her side and a glimmer caught his eye. The Doctor saw a peculiar looking ring; a fake diamond with garnets which aroused his mind. Eva was part of a secret society, he remembered. Interrogating her wouldn’t produce anything; she’d tell him to shut up because she took her oath seriously. Plenty of time for Google snooping later on, he thought to himself smugly. 

He knew that his head injury had weakened him and his anxiety had come out. The Doctor hadn’t intended to let Eva know what he was thinking but she’d pieced it together with her quick brain and reassured him. For the first time he took his hand and willingly put it against her midsection. Right on cue he felt something move. He didn’t withdraw his hand, silently enjoying himself and falling back asleep. 

The pair slept until late afternoon when Eva woke up first. She was amazed to discover the Doctor’s hand pressed up against her pelvis. The embryo moved a little bit which always made her smile. Not in a hurry to get up she kept the Doctor’s hand where it was but kept her eyes closed, feeling a little nudge now and then.


	7. Hear, Speak, See

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Landing in Georgian England, the Doctor discovers that Eva is ill and not too happy about exploring a new place when all she wants to do is rest. He sets off with Eva communicating by text, but all is not as it seems. The Doctor tries to figure out what's going on, Eva gets kidnapped, and there are mysterious creatures that only appear in mirrors..

“Where are we going today?” the Doctor plugged in a random date. “February 20th, 1813. It’s the Georgian times, better let her know so we can get her into a costume,” he pulled the switch down and as the TARDIS geared up he went down to Eva’s room to see if she was up yet. “hello, girl! Are you up yet?” 

“Doctor, I can’t go anywhere today,” a strange voice met his ears. “I’m too sick.” 

“Are you?” Eva sometimes pranked him so he opened up the door and went inside. The medium was clothed in black track pants, sneakers, and a yellow t-shirt, her standard clothes for lounging. She had a slightly flushed look in her cheeks, her eyes were dim, and her voice was hoarse. “What’s wrong with you?” 

“I’ve got laryngitis!” she squeaked angrily, narrowing her eyes. Couldn’t he detect that her voice was off by several decibels? Eva sank down onto her bed looking very woebegone. The medium had felt the cold coming on yesterday; her voice wasn’t as powerful as usual and she could feel congestion settling in. 

“Do you? You don’t sound any different,” the Doctor checked her with the sonic sunglasses, noticing that both heartbeats were normal. “that’s no excuse for lazing around here. We’re in Georgian England now-come out and have a look.” 

“Doctor, I need a rest!” the Doctor ignored her plea, putting his sonic devices away. Humans always thought they needed more rest whether they were sick or not. 

“You can just text me your questions! Is your phone fully charged? Let’s go!” he pulled her up, seeing that getting her into a Georgian outfit would be impossible, then put her in a hoodie, put her leather jacket on top of that and ushered her to the TARDIS doors. 

“I must be mad!” Eva rolled her eyes as the doors opened up. A cold gust of air greeted them as they stepped inside an old house. The Doctor glanced around while Eva could see just a cold derelict house so she moved over to an old chair and sat down, ignoring the dust that puffed up under her. 

“Why is this house cold and abandoned?” the Doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver up and buzzed the lights to come on. The lights came on where they were but nowhere else. “Can your psychic mind figure any of this out?” 

His phone beeped. Eva had texted: to channel in my condition would weaken me more. You’re going to have to figure it out. She calmly watched him shoot her a glare, looking amused. 

“As long as we’re here for under an hour you won’t get any worse. Are you going to sit there the whole time?” in response Eva looked like she was making herself at home. “Fine, stay there. I won’t endanger you or put you in harm’s way,” Eva shot him a look that meant clearly, ‘yeah, right’. 

The Doctor shook his head, going into one of the rooms. As soon as he vanished from her view, Eva got up and went into the room closest to the TARDIS. It was an old disused drawing room cloaked completely in black but she took a little flashlight out of her pocket, peering into the depths of the room. 

“The human is here..” she heard a voice whisper. “initiate the plan..” Eva sensed someone behind her and before she had time to react she was hustled forward to an eerily glowing chamber. The medium tried to attack whoever it was behind her but her elbow went through thin air. Her elbow got extremely cold, like she’d just stuck it into a snowbank, then the same coldness settled itself across her mouth. 

Neon pink wires snaked themselves free of what looked like a human shaped inset in the wall, winding themselves around Eva’s feet. The wires drew Eva over to the human shaped receptacle and put her in it faceup, more wires slithered across her body. A readout screen on the wall next to her identified her as a human with a second heartbeat; a real time picture of the embryo sprang up. Eva tried to struggle free again as wires attached to her upper arms, each carotid pulse in her neck, and one thick wire draped itself across her pelvis to monitor the embryo. 

Eva cried out in pain and surprise as a needle slid itself into her vein and secured itself there. Tubing from the top of the receptacle began to dispense a medication into the medium’s veins. Before she knew it she was closing her eyes. 

“Human is sedated.. apply the sensors.” two sensors were put at Eva’s temples, another one at her waist, causing her shirt to ride up and expose a few inches of her belly. 

**

The Doctor prowled around in one room, checking out the stationary and correspondence, looking for clues as to why the place was abandoned. According to his research the family was quite prosperous and renowned in their community so why would they leave the house they had kept in the family for generations? 

“Come on now, I need some answers here!” he grumbled, overturning a desk drawer. “Too bad my psychic’s disabled so she can’t do anything now!” the Doctor sent out a text message to his companion, shoved his phone back in his pocket, then stopped rattling around as he saw a mirror over the fireplace. 

“What is it about mirrors?” he gazed at it with his sonic sunglasses. The Doctor saw a candle and book of matches so he struck a match and lit a candle. In the dim light through the mirror he saw another figure coming up behind him, a menacing presence with an arm upraised, ready to strike, so he turned around with his breath caught in his throat. 

The figure turned to dust, melting down around him. “What was that?” 

The Time Lord gave up rooting around in a desk, staying in front of a mirror in order to try to get the being to come through so he could get a look at it. The Doctor concentrated, clearing his mind, hoping that the telepathic link Eva had given him would come through. She wasn’t answering her phone at all which was very unusual. “Damnit girl, why are you not answering?”

“Doctor,” Eva’s voice sounded. “where am I?”

“Eva! Where are you?” 

“I don’t know!”

What’s around you?” he tried. “Can you see in the mirror?” 

“What mirror?” 

“Hang on, why does your voice sound normal now? I thought you had a cold!” 

“Do I?” 

“Why are you so confused, girl?” he shouted. “What’s the last thing you remember?” 

“I went into a room and..” the voice petered out and stopped. 

“Great, she has been officially abducted!” the Doctor grumbled, trying to go out in the hallway but the door was stuck shut. “Of course I can’t find her, not when I can’t see a bloody thing in here!”

Another shadowy figure rose up just behind him. The Doctor whirled about to face it but it faded away like smoke. “You’re not another Quantum Shade, are you? If you are then you’ve gone rogue!” 

“Eva!” he barked out. “Can you hear me?” he tried to shove the door open but he ended up only injuring his left shoulder a little bit. 

“Doctor, I don’t know where I am..” 

“Quick!” a test was needed. “What was the name of the man on Nerva II who tried to come on to you?” 

“Aaron..” 

“What did he give you?” 

“I don’t remember..” 

“Aha!” the Doctor snapped his fingers as he roamed around the room. “We both know the teenage boy gave you something precious now come on, you know what it is as do I!” he found a door, opened it up then went through but the next room looked the same as the first and the Doctor went to the mirror over the fireplace. 

“Well, come on then!” he snapped. “I’m a busy man, I’ve got places to go! Do your spook routine and leave me be!” 

Another dark shape rose up behind him but this time the darkness was illuminated a little bit, a humanoid figure appeared. The Doctor did not turn around, knowing that the shape would disappear. It came into light on the mantlepiece and the Doctor saw the Master staring at him leeringly. “You’re just a figment of my imagination,” the Doctor defended himself. “bring Eva to me.” 

“Think you can go around giving me orders?” the Master smirked. “I’m not your subordinate.” 

“Then why are you here?” 

“You don’t get it,” the Master walked to the front of the mirror. “I’m not one of your pet humans you cart around in the TARDIS which caters to your every whim. Each time they do something you don’t like you have to scream at them for it.” 

“How I treat my companions is none of your business!” he snarled. “Where is Eva?!”

“How should I know?” the Master mocked him. “I’m just the Master.” 

“Eva is my friend and I will not tolerate her being harmed!” the Doctor shouted, clenching his hands into fists. If any more harm came to his friend there would be hell to pay, his furious mind decided. 

“Are you still really friends after what she did to you?” a cruel smile lined the Master’s mouth while his eyes reflected his narcissism at the Doctor. The Time Lord looked momentarily confused while shooting his enemy a look of pure hatred. 

“Did what to me?” 

“Betrayed your trust, taking a gift!” the Master threw up his hands to the sky with a sarcastic grin on his face. “She could die during surgery, Doctor-you need to prevent it from happening; go back in time and prevent her from getting pregnant now!” 

“No!” 

“You won’t because you’re weak.” 

“I won’t because I respect my friend!” the Doctor asserted himself, eyes blazing. “If what she did makes her happy then I support her decision!” 

“She will die,” the Master’s eyes sparkled with manic glee. “she will die during surgery and leave you all alone. Alone, just like the Doctor hates to be, it’s a well known fact. He’ll go out of his mind...” 

“She will not! Get out of my head!” the Doctor wielded his screwdriver, forcing the figure that looked like the Master to crumble in the dust just behind him. 

“This place sure as hell likes to use effigies,” the Doctor muttered, trying to stoke up a fire in the fireplace. He chucked a log of pine and maple into the grating, stuffed newspaper under it, then struck a match. The flame died back a little bit but caught on the newspaper. “you can’t use Eva or her mind against me!” he called out to the being he knew was watching him, pulling up a chair and sitting down. 

“What am I thinking!” the Doctor remembered that he had a direct link into Eva’s mind via telepathy so he cleared his mind and concentrated. Eva, can you sense me in your mind? 

He tried several times to try to get a connection but nothing was happening. It was like Eva’s mind was disconnected somehow. He’d known that she was sick and if she took an antihistamine her mind would have become fuzzy and confused. The Time Lord could not detect anything from her anymore which meant either she’d gone back to the TARDIS or she was in trouble. 

“Eva!” 

“Doctor, help me,” she sounded tearful. “I need you.” 

“I will try! Where are you, what do you remember?” 

“I don’t know.. it’s so dark in here..” 

“Yes, I know it’s dark! If I find you-when I find you I will set you free and we can go somewhere else! Now what happened to your voice?” 

“My voice?” her clear tones rang out all around the Doctor as he roamed around the room, trying to get a location on where his companion’s voice came from. 

“Yes, I thought you had laryngitis! You were sounding awfully congested and dry!” 

“No, I wasn’t, Doctor. I’m perfectly fine.” 

“Liar!” the Doctor scanned the room with the sonic sunglasses. “The REAL Eva has been unwell for the past few days. She has a bad chest cold and can’t speak! You’re going to have to try harder to put one over on me!” 

“Doctor, don’t do this.. please..” 

“Oh, why not?” he sat back down on a dusty ottoman. “The real Eva would have told me exactly what she remembered, let me know that she was feeling pretty bad like this morning, and told me off for asking too many questions! She’s a real grouch when she gets mad!” 

The Doctor went for the door to the room but it snapped shut on him, making the fire flicker. He could still see outside which was a dark snowy forest with a howling wind. It didn’t make a particularly pleasant atmosphere for the Time Lord but at least there was a fire burning comfortably in the fireplace. Sitting on a daybed near the window the Doctor put his hands over his face for a moment while he tried to think of a way to get out and back to the TARDIS. 

“Eva,” he asked, thinking that even if it wasn’t Eva he was talking to it could at least give him some information. “I know that’s not really you but answer me a question.” 

“It’s me, Doctor!” the tearful voice was back again. 

“The Eva I know would not get so tearful so easily, she’s got a thick skin. What’s outside this door?”

“The main hallway, why?”

“How many rooms does this place have?” 

“Ten.” 

“Ten, give or take,” the Doctor picked up a book, a sheet of paper, an inkwell and a quill. “let’s say the rooms were sketched out like this..” he made a map of the place going off of his general knowledge of Georgian houses. “there are at least two concealed rooms. Eva’s got to be in one of them.” 

“Doctor.. oh god, it hurts..” 

“Cease your idiotic prattling!” he barked, thrusting the quill back into the inkwell. “you’re only trying to distract me to prevent me from rumbling your plan! Clear off; I know the real Eva and she would be encouraging me and asking useful questions!” 

**

The Doctor stood up after about an hour then looked at the books lining the walls, checking for one on architecture. He did manage to find a rather thin volume on it, flipped to the index, checking for hidden rooms or basements. The books didn’t reveal much to him to his disappointment, so he pulled out his sonic sunglasses, taking readings. He’d hoped to pick up Eva’s life signs with them but either the sunglasses were in need of a tune up or Eva was too far away for them to register. 

Behind the Doctor another figure started to take form and solidify. The features became clear and a witchy laugh was heard; a merry cackle that was almost psychotic. “Well now, look at what we have here.” sharp blue eyes gazed out. The Doctor stood facing the mirror, knowing now that was the only way to communicate with the figures. 

“Missy, it’s about time. I heard you earlier.” his low gravelly tone didn’t betray any surprise that she was there. 

The Time Lady laughed. “Oh Doctor, it’s so cold in here.. Doctor, oh god it hurts! You’re a little bit right but not much.” 

An ice cold stare met her eyes in the mirror. “I met your earlier incarnation already.” 

“Yes, he does get around, doesn’t he?” Missy played with her umbrella. “Pity though about Eva.” 

“I know she’s all right.” the Doctor said firmly, not showing any signs of weakness. 

“Do you now? Do you really? The Doctor, who brings his friends along even when they’re sick, they betray his trust, act out? Can she really be all right after all you’ve thrown at her?” Missy was enjoying herself. 

“She’s a very capable person, Missy. But I’m not here to talk about my friends to you,” he wanted to turn but knew the figure would collapse into dust. “where is she?” 

“She’s here but as to where, maybe you should check on the west side,” Missy raised up one eyebrow. “fascinating places, these old houses, aren’t they? Never know what you might find.” 

“Indeed.” the Doctor tried to keep cool, not betray any sign of impatience or tenseness, Missy would verbally devour him alive for any sign of what she considered weakness. 

“Do those sonic shades actually work? I should build myself a pair.” she brought her head right next to the Doctor’s; making him feel the coolness. 

“They work well, especially for detecting heartbeats.” 

“Heartbeats?” Missy was amused. “You’ve been waxing poetic, Doctor. Find a woman with two heartbeats that isn’t me?” 

“Yes.” 

“Oh,” the Time Lady understood completely now. “someone get into a little tight spot?” she giggled girlishly. “Eva get a little frisky right under your nose?!” 

“She was given a gift.” he said sternly. Missy was like a troublemaker in a classroom. From his time in teaching at college the Doctor knew the best trick was to be stern and if troublemakers continued to act up he’d give them a detention at least. Missy definitely wasn’t a student but she was so childish at times. 

“I bet she was! A few quick one twos and there it is!” 

“Missy! Eva was given an embryo to carry from a stupid teenager.” the Doctor put his hands up to his temples, not wanting to relive that episode all over again. 

“That’s one way to put it! But Doctor, I wouldn’t worry. Eva might have her impulsive moments but she isn’t as dense as Clara or neurotic like the fat one. She will be strong enough when the time comes.” the sickly sweet tone of Missy’s voice seemed to drip like a caustic substance into his psyche. 

“This reassurance isn’t like you at all.” the Doctor frowned. 

“Well, what can I say,” Missy smiled sardonically. “Eva’s a nurse, she’s already seen the best and worst humans have to offer. She’s already pretty jaded in her views just like you. You two deserve each other,” she put a hand on the Doctor’s shoulder, a weight he felt but knew he couldn’t see. “tired and weary, you two will just stay jaded together.” 

“I don’t know about jaded.” he demurred. 

“Beware of Eva,” Missy hissed, making the hackles on the back of his neck go up. “she has a dark soul.” 

“Couldn’t be any darker than yours.” 

“Touche, Doctor! You don’t want her to become another Sienna, do you? Get her heart broken and die in a pointless war?” 

The two of them heard a scream rip through the entire building. Missy looked startled as did the Doctor. “Aha! You know that voice wasn’t me, Doctor! It was your precious Eva!” 

“She’s telling me that she’s still alive and she’s been kidnapped. Have you any words of real advice to me, Missy?” 

“Why, Doctor!” the impish grin returned. “In a world of darkness, all you need to do is close your eyes and listen.” 

Listen.. he remembered that word on his chalkboard. “When you can’t see the foes around you it’s time to use your other senses.” it made sense to him. When Eva channeled she would often close her eyes and ignore everything going on around her. The Buddhist monks had a similar way of meditating, the Doctor remembered. 

“Exactly! Good luck, Doctor!” she sang out before disintegrating. 

The Doctor adjusted his sonic sunglasses, punching a button that brought up the compass setting. Head west, Missy had said. West was to the right so he rolled up his map, stuck it in his pocket, then went over to the wall he knew was there. With the sonic screwdriver the Doctor ran it all over the wall. The wall didn’t read well with the screwdriver so he thrust one hand out, expecting to have it hurt from smacking a solid object but his hand went right through it. 

“Hologram,” he spoke with a little smile. “I think we’re getting somewhere here.” 

**

Entering into the front hall again, the Doctor realized that his map was useless. Missy had given him the correct information and knew that the wing of the house was just a holographic projection. Turning up the intensity of the sonic screwdriver he raised it up and let the buzzing noise emanate over the house. A hissing noise followed by a few sparks burst up from a few feet away from him, making him jump. The Doctor realized it was a projector set remotely and kicked the remains aside. 

“Eva! I’m coming to get you!” taking the sonic sunglasses off he headed in the direction that was west and closed his eyes. 

All he had to do was listen.. 

“Doctor!” he sped up into a run thinking that Eva’s voice was definitely concentrated in one area. He entered a drawing room and opened up his eyes. 

“EXTERMINATE!” several Daleks appeared in front of him, making the Doctor stop. 

“What in the bloody hell!” five Daleks cut off his area of retreat and began to close ranks around him. The Doctor knew that there was no chance for him to escape now so he dropped to the floor, his hearts pounding, knowing that there was no way for him to save his friend. He moved like he was in slow motion, falling to his knees, ducking down low to avoid the Dalek’s fire but he knew there was no point. 

Eva, was his last conscious thought. 

Two thudding sounds made the Doctor open up his eyes, realizing that he wasn’t dead after all. His hands weren’t glowing orange so he wasn’t regenerating. He didn’t feel hurt at all so what had just happened to him? Looking up, the Doctor got his answer. 

The whole room was covered with floor mirrors from left to right. Standing up, the Doctor gasped in pain; he had hit his left shoulder rather hard from trying to force a door open and when he ducked but it would heal itself all right. Later on he meant to let Eva have a look at it. 

“Mirrors everywhere!” he trumpeted, clutching his sore shoulder. “Someone really wanted to put me to the test! They’d have known I would duck in cover instinctively when facing my greatest enemy! Now who wants to experiment on me like I’m just a bug in a bell jar-bug in a bell jar!” the Doctor looked confused by his own proclamation. “I guess it could work.” 

He pulled out the sonic sunglasses and put them on, adjusting them for her heartbeats. “Eva!” he continued west, finding a small locked off room. A buzz with the sonic and the doorknob fell off. Eva often liked to joke that the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver was like Harry Potter’s wand-he was always brandishing it around and doing weird things with it. 

“Eva, I-” the Doctor stopped when he saw several human imprints in walls, neon pink wiring was everywhere but only one upright receptacle was occupied. The Doctor removed his sunglasses, put them away, then glanced at the tablet computer on the wall next to the occupant. He didn’t have to look twice to know that Eva was in there. “Let’s see what we’ve got here..” he could see doses of medication, Eva’s heartbeat, the embryo’s heartbeat. 

“Nothing too bad!” the Doctor moved over to where Eva was. “Oh, my poor girl, what have they been doing to you?” pink wires and sensors were scattered all over her. A quick buzzing with the sonic loosened the wires then the monitors began to flash a warning sign. “Your blood pressure is going up; the embryo is in distress!” he freed her from the wires, leaving the sensors alone, then picked her up, hightailing it back to the TARDIS. 

**

The Doctor banged his way into the TARDIS, telepathically telling it to take off which it did, as he rushed Eva into the sickbay. He put her on the bed, attached a cardiac sensor then he glared at the monitor. “Your heartbeat is increasing, Eva! I’ll stop this!” the needle was still buried in Eva’s skin so the Doctor hurriedly measured out a dose of medicine and pushed it into the unconscious woman’s vein.

“Oh thank god,” the Doctor watched Eva’s heartbeat return to normal. The embryo’s heartbeat slowed back down as well. “must have been a failsafe for the aliens that took you. As soon as I deactivated the wires the IV put a cardiac stimulant in here which would have caused you to have a heart attack or stroke and die. The embryo wouldn’t have survived either,” he added with a little grin. “I’ll just give you some medication to counteract what you’ve been given and hope you wake up soon.” 

No sooner had he given a medication to Eva when an alert flashed up on the monitor PATIENT IN COMATOSE STATE. 

“A coma! Well, at least you’re here under my care.” the Doctor attached a saline drip to Eva’s IV port, put sensors on her temples to monitor her brain activity. He filled the white board with information about Eva’s current state in case she woke and wanted details. 

“And now we wait,” all of her vitals were good so the Doctor didn’t think twice about leaving her in the sickbay. The TARDIS would alert him if anything was wrong. A security camera in the sickbay was trained on Eva’s still form that was on one of the monitors. Setting the ship to drift for awhile, the Doctor glanced at the security footage, a worried look in his eyes. “come back to me, Eva.” 

EPILOGUE

For the next six days there was no improvement. The Doctor checked on her every day, usually coming in once in the morning and once in the evening but Eva was lying still, resolute, seemingly refusing to wake up. He tried to connect with her telepathically yet couldn’t get anywhere. 

“Six days is more than enough time for any medication they gave you to wear off,” anxiety started to show in the Doctor’s eyes. “Eva, it’s time to wake up now.” 

“Doctor?” the voice was Eva’s but she hadn’t stirred at all. Eva’s ghostly form was standing near him looking a little confused. 

“What are you doing?” 

“It’s an out of body experience, Doctor. I need to get back in there.” 

“Wait, were you the one talking to me in that house? Was it really you?” 

“It was, Doctor. I kept going in and out and couldn’t concentrate.” 

“That scream?” he never wanted to hear something so horrible again; his entire body seemed to go cold with fright. 

“I couldn’t give up hope that you’d find me. I came to long enough to scream-those drugs were painful!” 

“When do you plan to wake up?” 

“Soon as I can get back in there.” Eva got as close to herself as possible and moved one hand over her body like she was looking for something. 

“How?” the Doctor watched her gestures without understanding what exactly she was doing. 

“Find an anchor,” over her pelvis where the embryo was inside her glowed a radiating light. “I think that’s good enough for me, am I right?” 

The Doctor didn’t say a word but he observed her put her hand on the light and suddenly she was gone. Eva inhaled deeply, rousing his attention, making him notice that her skin was not pale anymore. She still lacked some color in her face but that was due to the cold she probably still had. A thin feminine hand grasped his and as he glanced up, he saw Eva’s eyes finally open. 

“You’re back,” the Doctor said with great affection in his voice. “it’s about time.” 

Eva could not speak but her expression told the Doctor everything that he needed to know. The medium gave him a look of gratefulness and closed her eyes again, taking the Doctor’s hand. 

He’d had time to reflect on his experiences in the so called haunted house and the Doctor decided that it had been some weird parallel universe but he couldn’t discern any more than that. Any number of alien races would experiment on each other so he was at a total loss to figure out exactly who they were. 

Reclining back in his chair, the Doctor put his hands behind his head, gazing up at the harsh fluorescent lighting, marveling what a convenience it was to have reliable lighting. The Time Lord saw his reflection in a mirror then wondered what the significance was, the mirror and that house. He could see his foes through the mirror, and indeed the mirror made a mockery of him with the Daleks, but a faint memory tickled up at the corner of his mind. 

The Victorians had a superstition about mirrors; whenever someone died they would cover up their mirror or looking glass as it was called back then. That was to prevent the spirit of the dead from getting confused or lost and going into the mirror by accident. Ancient superstition of the mirror being a parallel dimension where the spirit can go and get lost in. The Doctor shut his eyes, thinking that superstitions had a place in the world but it doesn’t do much credit to believe in them. 

It was all in a day’s work for him; beings composed of dirt, only visible in the mirror but nonetheless were very real. Maybe the Victorians had a point.


	8. NIghtcrawlers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eva and the Doctor take a vacation in Yosemite national park. They uncover an alien species who roam the campground at night, Eva finds a necklace with a holographic message and they find out what's really happening in an underwater cave..

“Well Doctor, we’re going to get some quiet time with nature!” Eva bounced out of the TARDIS wearing green cargo pants, sneakers, and a hunter green crop top. The medium wore a backpack, clutched a sleeping bag in one hand, then went over to their campsite. 

“You humans have an obsessive need for nature, you know that,” the Doctor groused, bringing a duffle bag which contained a tent. “what’s so great about nature that you have to immerse yourself in it all the time?” 

“Aw, stop whining!” Eva slid her gear off her back, accepting the bag the Doctor handed her. “Everyone needs to unplug after awhile, you know that! Time to stow the devices and have some fun! Do you know how to swim?” 

“No,” the Doctor grunted, putting all his gear down. “Time Lords don’t need to know how to swim. I have a respiratory bypass system which enables me to-” 

“Yeah, I know,” Eva cut him off, shaking the gear out of the duffle bag with a clattering sound. “you and I agreed-no more time traveling for at least five days and recharge our own batteries, or in my case, my own head. I need to unwind. I want you to help me set up the tent, I’m going to go for a swim, then we will regroup for supper.” 

“Fine.” the Doctor accepted, helping Eva piece together the tent. It took some trial and error; at one point the tent was upside down but they finally got it together. Eva drove the stakes into the ground securely, then stood up, removed her top, displaying a light blue tankini top. The Doctor observed his friend take her shoes and pants off, take a towel from her bag and walk towards the water. 

Eva cut a fine figure in a suit, not that he would notice it really. The Doctor always made a point not to admire his friends based on their looks but Eva really wasn’t bad looking. The medium looked very at home in the woods, wading into the water then splashing into it. Memories came back to her; going up to her grandparents’ camp in the summertime, swimming, boating, going for long nature walks, etc. She’d taken to the water as soon as she was five years old and as her grandpa said, she’d never really gotten out of the water since. 

The Doctor wandered over to the shoreline, finding an Adirondack chair to sit in. The Time Lord did not change his attire much; deep green chinos, a tan button up shirt with a sand colored khaki jacket seemed to suit him just fine as he watched Eva have a swim. 

About twenty minutes into her swim, Eva watched the Doctor, who was looking bored, and decided to try to prank him. The medium dived down underneath the water, finding a big rock to hold on to. Eva moved from one rock to another, trying to see how long she could last underwater without coming up for air, when her fingers brushed aside something. Intrigued, Eva looked down and saw a necklace snagged under a rock. 

With her fingers on the chain, Eva pulled it up from the snag, got it free, and by then her lungs were bursting for air. Looking up, she could see the Doctor calling her so she let go of the stone and went up to the surface. 

“Eva! The hell were you doing under there?” 

The medium inhaled a long breath then got up out of the water. Grabbing her towel she wound it around her shoulders while the Doctor hovered nearby. Once she got her breath back she could speak but first thrust the necklace into the Doctor’s hands. 

“What is this?” he looked confused, examining the oval shape of the locket that dangled heavily from the chain. The pendant was a blue green material and fastened together with a brass clasp; slightly tarnished from the time underwater. 

“I found it underneath a stone, Doctor,” Eva replied, glancing down at it. “I’ll have to turn it into a lost and found before we go.” 

“Maybe, maybe not. I need to scan this with the sonic later. Now are you done behaving like a fish?” 

“Not exactly,” Eva told him. “I want to teach you how to swim properly. You might like it.” 

“Girl, you never do give up, do you?” the Doctor admired his companion in the sunlight. Eva was looking pretty as usual; her cold was long gone and she had no ill effects from the drugs the unknown alien race had given her. Her hair was wet now, clinging to her forehead, the drops of water clung to her figure enticingly, but the Doctor liked most about her was her smile and the stars in her eyes. 

“Not on your lives,” she happily pressed him. “go on, get changed into swim trunks and I’ll give you a lesson. It will help you out in the long run, trust me.” 

“Fine,” he heaved a sigh. If it made her happy he would at least pretend to like it. “if it will make you happy.” 

“That’s the spirit! Come on, let’s have fun here!” Eva chided him, touching his hand. “Try to loosen up a little!” 

The Doctor reluctantly got into a pair of neon green trunks with an old t-shirt that said Def Leppard on it and presented himself to Eva. “Do I look like someone on holiday yet?” 

“Yeah! So, I’m going to take your hand and just guide you into the water,” Eva walked with him into the water where she instructed him to sit down and get used to the feeling of the water all over his body. “so now just hold your breath and duck your head down to get used to it.” she showed him what to do. 

“I never thought I’d be doing this after going to the bottom of the Thames.” 

“You are full of surprises,” Eva grinned. “go on now.” the Doctor tolerated her lessons quite well in spite of himself. Eva taught him how to stay underwater, how to propel himself through it without tiring himself out, and a few other things. The sun was starting to go down when she called a halt to the lessons, bringing the cooler out of the TARDIS. 

“Suppertime, Doctor,” the two of them built a campfire. “so what do you think of the first day of camping, huh?” 

“I think you humans are out of your minds to give up your conveniences,” he said blandly, watching Eva take some items out of the cooler and put them on the cast iron grating. “on the other hand it is kind of a relief to be able to just get back to nature.” 

“Spoken like a human to say the least,” Eva shifted around on her camping chair. “not everyone gets the attraction of unplugging.” 

“Then they’re idiots,” the Doctor acknowledged, giving the necklace a quick buzz with the sonic screwdriver. “we’re entirely too dependent on our devices, the wifi, and what have you.” 

“Exactly. I’m part of the last generation who grew up without the Internet and I didn’t do too badly,” Eva raised her eyebrows a little bit. “although when I qualified as a nurse I was glad to have the Internet to help me study.” 

“Technology is good but it’s such a burden,” the Doctor agreed. “it helps to heal but it also helps to harm.” 

“Cyber bullies and the like,” Eva shook her head. “I’m glad the Internet wasn’t really a thing when I graduated high school. It was hard enough without all the armchair assholes.” 

“Tell me more about yourself, Eva,” the Doctor settled back in his chair, tilting his head back and gazing up at the night sky. “what are your family like?” 

“Well-” the Doctor actually asked about Eva’s family! He’d never shown any interest in her home life before and all he knew about her he’d learned through little comments now and then. Usually he refrained from asking any questions about his friends for fear of getting too involved. “my dad’s an engineer, my mom’s a teacher, and I have two brothers with families of their own.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah. My older brother has a little boy and girl, my younger one has two little boys,” a wave of forgotten envy washed through Eva. The Doctor immediately noticed it; her eyes had gone a little watery. “my parents are good to me though I do think that they cherish my brothers more because they have families. It’s partially why I became a nurse, you know. So I could have a good job, care for people, and let it take over my life.” 

“Do you really think that your parents love your brothers more because they have kids and you don’t?” the Doctor picked up on the little bit of tension in her voice. 

“Yes I do, Doctor. I use my job to get out of family events because-well, you know what happened to me when I was younger,” Eva swiped a tear out of her eye before it could break free. “I never fully got over that and my brothers flaunting their families in front of me was too much. I couldn’t bear it anymore so I estranged myself from them. My mother making pointed remarks that things would be better for me if I’d only settled down and had a family, my grandma always asking me why, my brothers teasing me about being a closet lesbian. It’s the perfect family storm,” Eva shut her eyes and exhaled, willing the memories back. She gave her friend a side glance; the Doctor did not fail to notice that her eyes were all glassy. “I couldn’t take it anymore, Doctor. I had to get out.” 

The Doctor didn’t know what to say. He would have never guessed it of Eva. He knew she had mental health problems but never really said why. Family dynamics were beyond him and he was only getting Eva’s perspective. She saw things one way but the Doctor wanted to remain objective. The crackling fire brought him back down to earth as he shifted in his chair, absorbing all that Eva had told him about herself. A few feet from shore he heard a splash and realized that it was nightfall; the fish were jumping. 

He had to comfort her somehow. Eva had taken a chance confiding in him and he must show her that he understood and to convey it somehow. The medium dangled her right hand down from the chair, the other hand up near her left eye to carefully dab away another tear. It was taking a chance, she knew, to give the Doctor information about her personal life that he might have construed the wrong way. Eva had never volunteered the information because it was just too painful to her. 

Before Eva knew it she felt the Doctor’s hand take hers; the warm and calloused palm pressed hers gently. She turned her head to look at the Doctor, whose eyes were full of warmth and fondness for her and; dare she even think it, love? 

“All I can say is that there’s two sides to every story, Eva,” his tone, always so gruff and dismissive, softened up a little bit. “in any case I can say to you that you have a better life now with a grumpy coot to manage,” Eva laughed a bit shakily. “humans put too much emphasis on families and the idyllic lifestyle, but look at the powerful families in your world and you’ll find out there’s a few things wrong.” 

“So no family is without its share of problems.” she knew that firsthand; but it helped to raise up her spirits a little bit. 

“You’ve got it. Now, when are we getting to bed?” 

“What time is it? Oh, it’s only 9, Doctor! Tell you what, how about a little jam session?” Eva brought out her acoustic guitar, thought of a song and began to play it. 

“What is that tune?” it sounded vaguely familiar. 

“Buddy Holly’s Rave On.” 

“Oh, Buddy Holly!” the Doctor exclaimed. “When I met him he was just starting out on a tour in the UK!” 

“You knew him?” 

“I had lunch with the great musician! You like him?”

“I have three great influences on me musically, Doctor. Buddy Holly, Queen, Michael Jackson.” 

“Do you? Well, let’s see what you’ve got vocally. Do you sing?” 

“Yes; I was in a band remember?” 

“Yes now see if you’ve got the vocal chops to keep up! Sienna was a great singer and I think you could match her at least.” 

**

Later on in the night when Eva was sleeping soundly in the tent, the Doctor was lying next to her and trying to sleep himself. He tossed and turned, hearing nothing but the water lapping at the shore, some boats cruising by, but then the Doctor heard the call of a loon out on the lake. He froze, trying to remember what it was but when the bird called again he felt himself relaxing a little more. 

The loon gave a different kind of cry; it was a lonely sound but very serene. For some reason the Doctor found the call very relaxing; before long he found himself sliding into a deep sleep. On the lake other loons cried out and there was the sound of some splashing; apparently a turf war had erupted between two families. 

Eva woke up at around 3 AM; the silence of the lake was troubling to her. When she slept on board the TARDIS she could always hear the hum of the machinery which lulled her to sleep every night. The medium was unsettled in her mind but could not figure out why. Beside her the Doctor was completely and quietly asleep; she wasn’t going to disturb him for anything. 

In her mind Eva saw a thin white figure moving along and somehow she knew it was going to pass by their campsite. Disentangling herself from the sleeping bag, the medium grabbed her phone and went to the dirt road highway. 

Standing in her sleep shorts and crop top Eva put her phone on record and lifted it up, seeing a white flicker to one side of the highway. Before she knew it she was seeing two stick figures, one small and one big, walking down the road in a strange gait. The stick figures were unlike anything she had ever seen; two straight sticks that met at the top with a white sphere on top like a head. They didn’t walk like they had knees, more twisting to each side in order to take a step. 

Gaping openly the medium continued to film until they walked by her. The figures didn’t notice her at all but Eva didn’t think that they would. She waited a minute, watching them stroll down the road until they completely disappeared from her view, leaving her awestruck. 

“Wow!” she breathed, going back to the campsite. “I think it will make a good youtube video!” posting it up right away Eva put in the proper tags and waited. When it was posted she sneaked back into the tent, trying not to disturb the Doctor. He was sleeping deeply, she could tell that right away, so Eva pressed a kiss on his cheek, mumbling goodnight, putting her arm over his. 

As she got ready to sleep, feeling the drowsiness pull her back under, the Doctor’s hand found her midsection again, nearly squeezing it. He’d gotten used to the idea that she was pregnant now and it seemed that he was taking it in stride like she’d told him to. 

“My god!” Eva saw that under the Doctor’s hand the embryo glowed for a brief moment. “I think someone in there likes you, Doctor.” 

**

The Doctor was awakened by the loon calling again on the water. He heard some Canadian geese, some ducks, then splashing as people got into their boats and began to start fishing. Opening his eyes slowly the Doctor blinked, enjoying the tranquility that enveloped him. The time was only around 9 AM, a bit late for him to wake up and as he checked the spot next to him, realized that Eva was already up and about. 

“Early bird girl.” Eva had excellent sleep habits; she’d usually retire around 10 at night and get up around 7 or 8 in the morning. Something was poking the Doctor-it was the necklace Eva had found in the lake the previous day. He’d given it a previous buzz but something was telling him that the necklace needed a more thorough scan. Taking it out of his pocket, the Doctor took out his screwdriver and focused a high intensity energy at the locket for about a minute. 

Blue-green light popped up, causing the pendant’s covering to shift aside like a door. The Doctor examined the surface of the pendant which was nothing out of ordinary, but a ghostly white image popped up. 

The face was humanoid in nature but the face was very round with two splotchy black eyes peering out. Not knowing if the humanoid was capable of speech, the Doctor frowned, wondering what was going to happen next. 

“For posterity;” the humanoid spoke. “we are Nightcrawlers, we are sparse, we are nocturnal. We await the one who will set us free. Legend says that a powerful woman will visit our grounds in the far future and she will have the ability to set us at liberty.” 

“Powerful how?” the Doctor mused. “I need more information than that!” 

The holographic projection buzzed momentarily, going gray and fuzzy. “We will prowl the grounds until the woman arrives.” 

“Powerful woman?” the Doctor repeated himself. “Maybe if I boost the signal with the sonic sunglasses we might be able to find out more!” he put them on, using the screwdriver as well but the holograph repeated the same thing. 

“I don’t think we’re getting anywhere with this!” angrily he shoved the necklace into his pocket and exited the tent, a warm breeze greeting him. “Where in the hell is that girl?” 

The early morning haze was burning off so the Doctor saw that Eva was just emerging from the water, hair dripping while the sunlight burst through. Eva took her towel, wrapped it around her waist, then greeted her friend with a cheerful hi. She was looking especially pretty that day; the Doctor didn’t know if the embryo gave her an extra radiance or if it was all in his head but she was quite pretty. 

“I’m fawning over her like a schoolboy!” grunting in annoyance the Doctor turned to the cooler in order to find himself some breakfast. 

“Well, glad you slept in a little,” Eva joined him by the lake a few minutes later. “don’t you sleep well when you have nothing pressing on your mind?” 

There were plenty of things on his mind but the Doctor did not allude to any of them. Foremost right now was the mysterious necklace and the meaning behind the hologram. He finished his breakfast without a word, wondering if Eva was the person that the holographic image had been talking about. Eva’s gentle brown eyes looked benevolently upon the Doctor as he reached up, moving her wet hair away from her face. 

“Something is on your mind. Well, can’t say I didn’t try to help you relax a little bit,” she was a little disappointed. “in the meantime I feel that there are places I should explore today.” 

“Where are you going?” the medium brushed past him and went into the tent, changing out of her swim gear into a pair of jean shorts and white tank top. 

“I saw something last night,” Eva shook out her hair then showed the Doctor her video she’d taken. “something really strange.” 

“This is interesting,” the Doctor declared. “Eva, where are you going?” 

“Well, I have a feeling that what we are seeing here is ancient folklore come to life,” Eva twisted back to look at him. “libraries are useless nowadays, obsolete by the Internet but the problem with the WWW is that you don’t have reliable sources.” 

“What’s your point?” he hurried to keep up. Eva used her phone to download a map of the campground and surrounding area then showed it to him. 

“What’s my point? Have you forgotten that I’m a medium, Doctor? I can find out the truth.” she raised an eyebrow with a smirk. 

“Where will you go to find the truth?” he looked at the map on her phone, seeing about a dozen campgrounds, a restaurant, the lake, the rec hall and a cemetery. 

“Why, Doctor, I thought you knew me better than that!” Eva laughed. “I’m going to need your help if I’m not initially successful.” she slid her phone into her pocket, walking briskly down the highway. 

“What are you up to?” Eva was playing tricks on his mind again, speaking in riddles like he sometimes did. Eva had once sworn to speak in circles around him until he got mad so that he’d refrain from doing it around her. What Eva didn’t appear to understand was that the Doctor often did it to test her powers of deductive reasoning; she just called it annoying. 

“Think for a minute-what speaks clearly when the right person is around to hear it?” they walked out off the highway and started off down a hidden path road. A few other campers said hi; Eva said hi back and even the Doctor was cordial. “The place to speak, hear and be heard is the little cemetery about an eighth of a mile away.” 

It took no time at all to get to the cemetery. The Doctor jumped the low stone wall but Eva found a very old wrought iron turnstile and pushed her way into the main road. 

“Wow,” Eva and the Doctor stood on the main road, seeing the cemetery in its small yet grand glory. Slate and granite stones loomed up from the ground, planted there by settlers long ago lost to time itself. There was one crypt at the back of the cemetery but there was no family name etched on it. Several of the stones had beds-rectangular shapes filled with rocks, some had flat stones at the base of the grave markers. Eva bent down, removing some overgrown moss and lichen from a stone while the Doctor observed her fingers gracefully touching the stone like she was searching for something. “it’s a real shame.” 

“What?”

Eva straightened up, seeing a few sculptures of urns and a big one representing a weeping willow. “This cemetery is neglected. I have some people to call and make sure this gets restored.” 

The Doctor chose not to ask questions on that remark. “So how are you going to get in tune with them if they’re here?” 

“There is a legend amongst cemeteries,” Eva said airily, walking along, feeling a spirit guiding her. “that the first one buried in a new cemetery is the keeper. The soul will stay forever and guard it. I think that will be the best one to help us in our little quest.” 

“How do you know which one is which-or are the spirits guiding you now?” the Doctor could sense that Eva was walking like she was on autopilot. 

“I’ve got a helper.. this stone is it,” Eva nearly walked into it but she stopped and kicked at the flat stone which bore a name but due to the elements it was too eroded down to see. “this person under the wolf stone will be a benefit to us.” 

“All right.” this was Eva’s game now so the Doctor sat down under the shade of a tall granite monument and waited. The medium concentrated hard, emanating a feeling of love and peace which was what energies tended to respond to positively. The Doctor could feel what she was radiating, drawing him in as well. 

“Come on, let’s get some positive energy in here as well. Doctor, I want you to intervene if you sense I’m in pain,” Eva stretched her hand out towards him which he reached forward to accept. “all right, here we go..” the medium projected an image of the white creature along with a question feeling, asking what it was to the spirit world. 

The Doctor and Eva could both feel the cemetery come alive with spirits, all of them converging on the two of them, seemingly eager to get a word in. Eva’s mind was loaded with images but she couldn’t decipher all of them. She tried to understand them but mostly they were just inquiries after loved ones that were left behind. Not wanting to waste time, Eva blocked the people who were asking about their families and asked more insistently about the creature. 

Nature spirit-one that wasn’t connected to any mythology or folklore was all she got. The creature had been prowling the earth for longer than humans inhabited it and it did the same thing it always did. But why was the main reason. What came to her mind was a residual haunting but it didn’t seem likely. 

“Well, I don’t think that helped our cause any,” Eva exhaled, closing the gateway between her and the spirit world. “all we know now is what it isn’t.” 

“Your cryptid is likely from another dimension,” the Doctor firmly gripped her hand as she stood up. “we will investigate tonight after it shows up again. It predates humankind’s in-habitation of earth so we need to reach deeper than that..” 

“It’s probably alien, right?” they walked towards the entrance again. 

“Seeing as there’s nothing about it in folklore I can guarantee you that it’s an alien,” the Doctor replied, stepping to avoid some broken footstones. “we can wait for nighttime and see what happens. What time did the creature appear?”

“I think it was about 3 AM.” 

“All right, we’ll get up around 3, wait for the cryptid, then follow it. In the meantime I’ll be taking readings with the sonic sunglasses,” the turnstile creaked and screeched as they passed through it. “I think that we have a long day ahead of us. What do you want to do?” 

“Well, I think we should have some more fun,” Eva pulled out the map on her phone again. “how about we go for a boat ride?” 

**

The rest of the morning passed eventfully. Eva took a power boat ride with some of the other campers, going on a tour of the lake to see all the wildlife while the Doctor sat in the Adirondack chair and meditated. His mind repeatedly thought of the necklace and kept wondering what the whole thing meant. It definitely meant Eva; she was the only apparent woman on the campgrounds for some reason, and she definitely had power but did she have enough power to release them? 

Maybe she did. The Doctor had witnessed her power twice now and he did not doubt that she was a powerful medium. Spirits seemed to cling to her, see her from a distance and come right in. True mediums were rare on earth so when a spirit could find one it would give a message or stick around. Eva had taught herself to become powerful over the years and the Doctor had to smile a little bit. Not a lot of people would embrace their gift but she did. 

“Doctor, are you hungry?” he jumped. Eva stood next to him with a smile, wearing her aviator sunglasses. “Sorry to startle you but I think it’s lunchtime.” 

“So it is!” the Doctor got up from his chair and went down to the tent. “What would you like?” 

Afternoon passed by with a little less excitement than the morning. The Doctor managed to get back in the water where Eva challenged him to a race, she managed to get him in a canoe, teaching him to paddle properly. In the late afternoon sun, the Doctor asked Eva if she could remember exactly where she found the necklace. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t,” the medium had begun to start preparing supper. “did you ever get anything out of it?” 

“No, not a thing,” he lied, knowing that Eva was the one the necklace had been talking about. “I need to run a few more tests on it to discern what it’s really saying.” 

“OK. Keep me informed, yes?” Eva smiled. 

“Will do. Be right back-got to change,” the Doctor went into the tent, pulled the necklace out, then put it on. “come on, tell me something I don’t know already.” 

“For posterity,” the tone began again. “we are Nightcrawlers, we are sparse, we are nocturnal. We await the one who will set us free. Legend says that a powerful woman will visit our grounds in the far future and she will have the ability to set us at liberty.” 

“Let’s see if we can get a better setting on this!” the Doctor tilted the pendant, seeing a small inset on the underside. “General message of help on one setting and a more detailed message on the second! It’s like an interesting answering machine!” 

The odd white sphere began to speak again. “Nightcrawlers have been on the earth for more than 3,000 years. We seek the one who will free us from our prison; the woman our folklore has been talking about for all of time. She will come to us from the skies, descend upon us, then use her powers to free us so we may wander once again.” 

“That’s a little better,” the Doctor muttered, fiddling with the pendant again. “anything else?” 

The message faded out so the Doctor put the pendant underneath his shirt and changed up into what he’d been wearing yesterday. Eva glanced up from where she had been putting the lid back on the cooler and smiled at him. “Hope you’re hungry, Doctor.” 

“I am!” he sat down next to her and they had supper together. 

Several minutes later they were happy and sated, sinking into companionable silence together. The Doctor was still thinking about the necklace and possible consequences of Eva going to free potentially dangerous creatures that they knew nothing about. His friend had a freedom and peace of mind at the moment; the Doctor was loathe to interrupt her tranquility. 

With Eva’s mind so quiet and blank, the embryo deep inside her body began to stir a little bit. She could sense it in her mind, feeling it waking up, then it gave her a thump. The Doctor’s head snapped up when the medium gave a noise of pain. 

“What is it?” 

“Nothing much; the embryo’s moving about in there,” Eva put her hand on her waist. “if I do this long enough it calms down.” 

“Does it?” he dragged his chair closer to hers. The medium smiled as he moved her hand and put his down instead. 

“You had your hand right here last night, Doctor, and a great thing happened,” Eva waited to see if it happened again. The embryo moved, sensing the male this time, and like it had previously, a golden glow illuminated from it. “I think it likes you.” 

“So it seems,” the Doctor was impressed. The glow stayed as long as he kept his hand on it. “can you see it moving at all?” 

“I’ve never looked,” the Doctor removed his hand, the glow disappeared as Eva hitched up her shirt a little bit. “Aaron said there might be a bit of an indent now and then but I shouldn’t get my hopes up.” her belly was as slim as always; now the embryo seemed to know that it was the focal point of the attention. The embryo moved hard which translated to a visible jump to the outside world. 

“Ow!” Eva cried out. “That really hurt-I’m glad it doesn’t do that regularly.” she felt like she’d been punched in the stomach; the movement had actually winded her a little bit. 

“You haven’t been in any pain other than this, right?” the Doctor watched Eva recline back in the chair, pained expression slowly leaving her face. He drew her shirt down again then clasped his hand over her belly. “Time for you in there to quiet down.” the glow again emanated and the embryo seemed to obey him. 

“No, I’ve rarely felt it like this. It seems to be pretty good most of the time. It’s a silent companion for me; just moving about around dusk.” 

The Doctor was reminded, as Eva leaned back in her chair, one hand on her waist, that she may have been a powerful medium she was also in a vulnerable state. If she set those cryptids free it could come back on her, possibly costing her the embryo and if not her life than her mental health as well. He had to safeguard her future but it was going to be tricky to do. If Eva got a telepathic command she would have to obey and the Doctor would not be able to stop her at all. 

“You’ve got a faraway look on your face, Doctor,” Eva commented. “what’s going on?” 

“A lot,” he said simply. “time for bed. We’ll want to turn in early so we can be up at 3 AM.” 

“Right.” she got up and went into the tent with the Doctor giving her a minute to get settled then he joined her. 

“Do you feel more tired after the embryo’s been pummeling you from the inside out?” he kicked off his boots. 

“A bit but I’m used to it now. It likes to move around just before I go to bed; I don’t know why but it’s reassuring to me, to know that I’m not alone.” Eva told him simply, lying faceup as she watched the Doctor snuggle up in his sleeping bag. 

“I suppose that’s the good way of looking at it,” the Doctor closed his eyes. “good night, Eva.” 

“Good night, Doctor.” Eva’s hands met around her waist where inside the embryo played, little gentle nudgings that she could tolerate. 

**

Three AM arrived before they knew it. The Doctor woke up first and hating to wake Eva up he reluctantly did so. It was dark, cool and quiet. Eva dressed in her cargo pants, sneakers, crop top and a khaki jacket she borrowed from the Doctor. The medium walked with the Doctor over to the highway, glanced around, then shrugged. “I don’t see them yet.” 

“We need to wait a minute, Eva. If what I think is true than your psychic powers are going to be needed very much.” the Doctor did not tell her the whole truth, his eyes cutting to her belly. 

“Doctor, are we going to hash out the whole you-don’t-want-to-put-me-in-danger-because-you’re-pregnant thing again?” she sighed irritably. “I think we’ve gotten past that.” 

“Right.” was all he said. The Doctor had every right to be nervous; he did not know exactly what they were getting into. 

Eva checked her watch as the Doctor stood in front of her, seeing whiteness out of the corner of his eye. The cryptid had returned but this time a smaller one was with it. It began to walk strangely like before, twisting back and forth while the little one scurried to keep up with the bigger one. Protectively the Doctor extended his arms back, keeping Eva from moving about. She moved closer to him, intimidated by the gigantic 9 foot stature of the big cryptid. The medium put her hands on his shoulders, her breath coming fast, telling the Doctor that she was scared. 

The tall cryptid paused then Eva quietly gasped, receiving images in her mind. “Cave.. under the water.. they dwell..” 

Both cryptids resumed their walk, the tall one giving Eva the precise location of where the cave actually was. She grabbed the Doctor’s hand, telepathically giving him the information that he needed to know in case they got separated. 

“Nightcrawlers,” Eva opened her eyes as the white figures disappeared. “Doctor..” 

“We need to get into the boat!” the Doctor grabbed Eva’s hand, hightailing it to the boat they had rented for the week. He jumped into the boat, Eva untied it, then he pulled the starter cord. It took a few times but the old motor started up reliably. The two of them hightailed it out on the lake, the Doctor matching what he saw in his mind to the scenery going by. 

“Doctor, look!” Eva grabbed his arm and pointed. There was an island on the far side of the lake yet underneath there was a glowing bioluminescence of blue-green light. 

“I guess this is where we get off!” the Doctor dropped anchor then jumped overboard, Eva following suit. Swimming to the underground cave, the Doctor made sure that everything was safe, checking to see Eva was still following him, then they went into the tunnel. 

The light got stronger the further they went; Eva was almost suffocating by the time they broke surface. She went over to the edge of the water, found the mossy stone and pulled herself out with a grunt. The Doctor had pulled himself out from the other side, they met in the middle, then proceeded to walk around until they found the main chamber. 

“This is weird,” Eva muttered, her voice echoing in the chamber. “where did they go?” they entered a big empty room complete with a raised platform in the center. 

“They’re still here,” the Doctor put on his sonic sunglasses which had miraculously survived the water, and started scanning the room. “they’re waiting.” 

“For what?” 

“I don’t know,” he answered but he was lying. “something doesn’t add up here.” 

“Weird room,” Eva passed her hand over the platform then found herself getting sucked onto the platform itself. Thick vines shot down, wrapping her wrists together and anchoring them behind her back. “Doctor!” 

“Eva!” a vine like whip lashed him across the face, knocking him down and stunning him. 

“Oh damnit!” the medium swore as the nightcrawlers started appearing around her. None of them talked but entered her mind via telepathy, making sure she knew what they were going to do to her. “You wouldn’t dare!” 

We will suck our your psychic gift and use it to free ourselves from this wretched world! One of them proclaimed. 

“You can’t do that!” a tear escaped her eye. “This is going to hurt my child!” a control panel sprang up and another nightcrawler adjusted the controls. Two more vines descended down, securing themselves at her temples. 

Your child will die and so will you! 

“I am starting to see why you were banished to earth!” a little crackle of electricity tickled her temples then the starting shock made her cry out. The Doctor stirred a little bit in the corner; Eva’s cry acted like the ultimate wake up call for him. “Doctor!” 

He can’t help you!

“The hell I can’t!” another jolt, another cry as the Doctor stood up a bit shakily, concealing his sonic screwdriver in one pocket. “What are you doing to my friend?!” 

“They’re stealing my powers, Doctor! With that they will break free!” 

Quiet! Eva received a long shock that made her scream. 

“Who trapped you here?” 

The Movellans! They tricked us into coming here when the earth was young and stole our telepathic abilities! 

“They would-the Movellans are very intelligent and know what sort of threat you possess to humans!” the Doctor thundered. “I presume with your psychic abilities you were able to bend civilizations to your will and strip mine every planet of precious metals!” 

You are a telepath too! One nightcrawler moved towards the Doctor menacingly but he refused to be swayed. Your abilities are not as developed as hers.

“Of course not! We Time Lords have a measure of telepathic abilities to communicate with our ships but the joke’s on you-Eva managed to deepen my telepathic ability awhile back!” 

The creature inside this one is blocking our ability to extract her psychic ability! The Doctor heard one say to the other. He had to smile on hearing that; Eva was starting to go in and out of consciousness but she had to grin a little as well. In the back of her mind she began to build up a psi energy pulse, one that could knock the nightcrawlers’ systems awry and free herself. 

“You didn’t count on that, did you?” the Doctor beamed, watching the energy cells Eva was wired to start to deplete. “What’s inside her right now isn’t human and can fight back!”

No matter, we will activate the psi energy purification system. A vine ascended up Eva’s leg then reached her pelvis. With a sucking sound it dug into her skin from the left hand side. The opening was quarter sized and it penetrated into her body so violently that Eva produced a scream unlike anything the Doctor had ever heard. 

“At least doctors give anesthetics before the operate!” was all he could say. “Where did you come from?” the Doctor spied the nightcrawler about ready to pull the switch. Maybe if he kept it talking he could buy some time while he figured out what to do. 

We hatched at the end of the universe at the dawn of time in this galaxy. You humans could not fathom the beauty of space; we long to return to the far flung regions from whence we came!

“You don’t need to go to this length in order to break free!” the Doctor glanced at Eva who seemed to be barely hanging on. 

There is no other option!

Shit, the Time Lords and the Movellans were allies against the Daleks so he would be committing a treasonous act if he got the nightcrawlers free, the Doctor remembered. 

“There are other ways to get psychic energy, not killing an innocent pregnant woman!” the nightcrawler was about to pull the switch when it hesitated. 

Do you think we have not exhausted other possibilities, human? 

“There are other ways!” the Doctor insisted. “However, as a Time Lord I must warn you that the Movellans are our allies and they will just bring you back here!”

What is another option, Time Lord?

“Ummmm.. this!” he pulled a plastic ball out of his jacket. “You’re able to shrink yourselves, yes? Get into this ball and use your energies to get it out of the earth!” 

That is absurd! We need psi energy from the female!

“You’ll need more energy than what she’s capable of!” the Doctor pulled out the concealed sonic screwdriver as the nightcrawler activated the device inside Eva. The medium roused a little bit, seeing the Doctor destroying the machinery with a manic glee. With all her might, Eva used her last bit of remaining strength to launch a psi energy pulse which destroyed everything. 

The Doctor turned around quickly amid the nightcrawlers’ shrieks to see a tiny little smile on Eva’s face. He grinned, knowing she was responsible, then used the sonic to disengage her from the vines that held her prisoner. “There we are, there’s my Eva,” the Doctor guided her over to the edge of the pool. “this is the only way out; can you make it?” 

Eva faintly registered the shrieks and angry squeaks of the cryptids behind her, seeing sparks flying everywhere; the whole cave was going to collapse on itself. “I better!” 

“Great! Remember to hold your breath!” they jumped into the water and hightailed it out of the cave, dodging falling rocks all the way through. As they re entered the lake the Doctor saw that Eva was lagging behind. He grabbed her hand and propelled them upwards, breaking the surface with a gasp. 

Eva surfaced next to him, coughing weakly. The Doctor put his head next to hers, forcing her to look him in the eyes. “I’m going to get you back in the boat, ready?” 

She nodded. The boat had a little ladder next to the outboard motor so with a little boost from the Doctor, Eva was able to get in without a problem. The Doctor grabbed the pull start cord, fired up the motor, heading for shore at a fast rate. 

The medium looked up into the night sky, somehow feeling dizzy. Something was dripping down her body and she thought it was lake water at first. Putting her hand down to her pelvis she found something wet and tacky. Her hand shook as she brought it up to her face, knowing immediately what she had found. 

Blood. Rather a lot of it. Taking off her jacket she wadded it up and stuffed it into her wound to try to stem the flow. 

“We’re back on solid ground, Eva!” the Doctor sang out, mooring the boat. “What’s wrong?” 

She rolled her eyes. It would take a lot of energy on her part to say a lot at that point in time. As she stood up and got onto the dock, the pain returned tenfold. 

“What are you doing to my jacket?” 

“Doctor,” a sweat broke out on her forehead. “I’m bleeding..” 

“Where?” she showed him. “Not to worry, we can fix that in the TARDIS! Come on! Cutting the vacation short I’m afraid.” 

**

Eva managed to make it to the TARDIS sickbay, lying on the exam table while the Doctor assembled the tools he’d need to close her wound. First off, because Eva was in a stupor and not really responding to him, the Doctor pushed down her clothes enough to see the wound. 

“Sorry Eva, these pants are ruined,” the Doctor cut them off of her while keeping a towel draped over her for modesty’s sake. “it’s like you’ve been shot,” there was a neat puncture hole which still bled freely so the Doctor pulled on gloves and got to work. “looks like that thing actually tunneled into your mesentery and was about ready to burrow into your uterus to suck the embryo out!” the Doctor picked up a small device which he aimed into her wound directly and cauterized the bleeding. “Little souvenir from a hospital in the year 5,000! Now I need to seal it off.. where did my sealer go?” the Doctor’s special skin sealer had gone missing so he had to put stitches in, very old school. “Just when you think we’ve evolved past stitches we have to use them.” taking a length of suture thread he knotted the end and gave Eva three stitches. Putting a little petroleum gel on the edges of the wound to keep it damp to heal, the Doctor fashioned a dressing and taped it down securely. 

“There!” he had been starting to sweat and his neck ached horribly. The Doctor disposed of the used materials, lifted up Eva’s hand, and with a handheld device, checked her blood count. “Your hemoglobin is a bit low but that’s nothing to worry about. Eva, are you awake?” 

Brown eyes opened. “Doctor,” she said faintly. “is it over?” 

“It is, girl, it is,” he said softly, applying his fingers to the pulse in her neck. “you’ll be all right now.” 

“Thank god.. thank god for you!” Eva sat up and hugged him. Feeling a bit awkward with hugs as usual, the Doctor ditched that feeling and hugged back tightly, closing his eyes briefly. Eva had been through a lot already but she still kept going which won her some admiration from the Doctor. She could withstand everything he had thrown at her and just kept on rolling with it. 

“Can I take you to your room now?” he offered. 

“Of course.” the Doctor saw Eva to her room where she sat on the edge of the bed, gazing up at her friend. 

“I should warn you that once the initial shock passes I will go into an emotional shock and be hysterical for a little while,” Eva confessed. “it’s just me processing what they did to me!” 

“Sounds like you’re already there.” 

“I probably am,” she agreed. “all that time they were draining me I kept seeing the worst moments of my life over and over..,” Eva’s breath caught in her throat, her eyes watered up. “I’m going to cry like a bitch, Doctor, I know how you hate it so you can go now if you want.” Eva started to shake but reminding herself that she was still in dirty clothes she got up, went into the closet and changed. 

The Doctor had changed himself, wearing his usual black and white. He felt uncomfortable at staying yet it would be disloyal to him if he left. Friends had to support each other even when emotions were involved. The Time Lord looked like he was part of the wall so Eva chose to take no notice of him, lying on her bed and letting her tears flow freely. 

It didn’t take long for the mental images to start coming. Eva’s emotions came all to the front of the Doctor’s mind and he saw all the memories that were so painful for her to relive.. her mother telling her she’d better hurry up, marry and have child before it was too late.. her grandma always asking her why she wasn’t married yet.. both of her brothers parading their kids around and making pointed remarks why kids were so great and anyone who didn’t have them were missing out.. her father pompously declaring all of his grandkids would have a bigger share in the estate than Eva would.. but what the Doctor found so heartbreaking was a younger Eva sitting in a rocking chair in a neonatal intensive care unit, weeping quietly as her child died.. 

That image was the most powerful the Doctor saw and it broke his heart. He loved kids and could understand babies very well. The fact that Eva had been denied what she really wanted in life had scarred her soul and there would never be another chance. 

Speaking of which, the Doctor had forgotten to check on the embryo. A brief sonic scan revealed that all was well. He listened to Eva’s breath hitching every now and then which pulled at his hearts as well so he decided to do something about it. 

Taking off his shoes the Doctor faced Eva on the bed. “I saw the images in your mind,” taking her hand he rubbed the back of it with his thumb for a moment, waiting for a response. “those experiences do not define you as a person, Eva.” 

“No, but they helped shape me into the cold emotionless shell I am today.” 

“Hey, none of that self deprecation talk,” the Doctor warned her. “I take some responsibility for your condition.” 

“How’s that?” 

“I opened the necklace and it told me about the nightcrawlers a little bit then also said that a woman with psychic power could release them from their prison.” 

“You didn’t tell me, Doctor, why?” her tone was a bit hoarse now. 

“I was-but then I reminded myself that you’re in a vulnerable state,” the Doctor pressed their hands to her right pelvic region, carefully avoiding the left side. “I didn’t want you getting hurt but I don’t suppose it made much of a difference in the end. You ended up getting hurt and mentally shattered. Remember when the embryo moved that night by the fire? Eva, you were already, if you’ll pardon the pun, carrying a heavy load and I didn’t want to add to it.” 

“Do you think the outcome would have changed much if I’d known?” 

The Doctor paused to consider that. Eva waited, a tear slid out of her eye so the Doctor raised his hand up, wiping it away then tapping her very lightly on the nose. She smiled a little bit as he got closer to her. “No, I don’t suppose they would have. Doctor, I feel like my entire mind was raped.. everything that was me was.. perverted by aliens..” the medium felt stripped, naked, bare, violated. Shaking some more, Eva tried to restrain herself but her emotions needed to be vented. 

Leaning forward the Doctor engulfed her in a hug, pressing her head lightly to his hearts. He had personally never understood the gesture until Eva had explained it to him one day. She had said that humans often needed another one’s comfort or show of support just to signify that their emotions were validated and they felt heard. Clara on the other hand had introduced hugs to the Doctor even though he hadn’t been receptive to them at first. Hugs signified warmth, love, understanding, everything that a human or even a Time Lord would need. 

Eva cried herself out within a few minutes, giving herself a headache in the process. She raised her head, kissing the Doctor on the cheek for his thoughtfulness. “Thank you for understanding, Doctor.” 

“You’re welcome. How about some dreamless sleep, yes?” 

“I think that we could both use it honestly.” Eva’s eyes were now red rimmed. “Wait, what about the embryo? I never even thought that-” 

“Am I a novice?” he teased her. “I checked on it and it’s maturing fine. Probably a little irritated by the attempted intrusion. That device had nearly gotten into your uterus and you would have hemorrhaged blood but by some miracle it didn’t.” 

Eva put a hand to her pelvis where the embryo moved. “It is definitely moving.” 

“Good. Now, get into bed,” the Doctor directed her. “I’ll help you sleep.” 

The medium got into bed, drawing the covers up, wincing as there was some pain from her injury site but nothing she couldn’t bear. The Doctor directed her to clear her mind, putting his fingertips to her temples, influencing her to sleep soundly without dreams. Eva was out like a light in a few minutes.


	9. Browser History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eva snoops in the Doctor's browser history in his sonic sunglasses and discovers his fetish. She becomes sick with a cold, the Doctor medicates her with funny results. 
> 
> Things turn dark after that; Eva gets into trouble with the Doctor which results in him losing his temper and kicking her out of the TARDIS.

BROWSER HISTORY

Eva moaned and woke up slowly, removing the washcloth from her eyes with a groan. It felt like she hadn’t slept at all and as the medium got up, the congestion reasserted itself. Coughing with a slight honking sound Eva was a bit breathless but knew that a hot shower would give her a little relief so off to the bathroom she went. 

It was a shame to leave the shower but Eva couldn’t stay there forever. Reluctantly getting out she put on her comfort wear; track pants, a magenta button up shirt, and a red flannel shirt to keep herself warm. Makeup was out of the question as her eyes were red; no amount of concealer or eyeshadow would be able to mask her symptoms. She stepped into her clogs and clunked out into the hallway, walking to the console room to let the Doctor know that she was ill therefore unable to take part in any fun adventuring for at least a week. 

He wasn’t around the room which was odd. The Doctor practically lived there, lecturing Eva, inputting coordinates, etc so Eva felt a bit lost without him there. The medium looked around the console but then she saw the sonic sunglasses sitting there rather ominously. An impish grin flitted across her face as she picked them up, wondering what his browser history was and why he was so secretive about it. Didn’t the device have an option to delete his browser history? 

With the grin spreading Eva swiped the sunglasses from their perch, went down to the second level under the console, sat down in an armchair and put them on. There were two buttons on the side of the sunglasses so Eva discovered one was for scrolling and one was for clicking. Quickly mastering the technique, the medium looked through the websites the Doctor liked to visit. 

“Boring, boring… history of Skaro; didn’t he write the history of that planet?” she had heard all the stories. “What’s this?” the title of the website was in a strange language which reminded her of Cyrillic but curiosity getting the better of her she clicked on it. 

“WOW!” was her reaction, resulting in a coughing fit. “He likes this.. is it Time Lord porn or just his fetish? I didn’t realize the Doctor had to get his rocks off like this!” 

The website was full of tentacle porn! The subcategories were alien on alien, alien on human, aliens on humans, and any number of positions that Eva didn’t think was possible. Despite herself she was feeling a little aroused herself by the weird sounds the porn produced. As she watched, an alien took a human female, flipped her upside down and without even taking her pants off, thrust a tentacle up into her pussy without a problem. 

“My god.. the Doctor is a sick puppy but I get it.. shit that’s fucking hot!” if she wasn’t sick already Eva would have gone into her room and gotten herself off. “I hope I remember this website so I can find it later.. what search engine does the Doctor use?” she closed the tab and accessed the main page. 

“Intergalactic Google with a TARDIS browser interface. Sheesh, I just use Chrome,” she pulled the sunglasses off. “I better put these back before he notices it’s gone!” 

Eva went back up to the console, replacing the sunglasses effortlessly. “I wonder what his randy little mind thinks up when he’s alone? A six breasted whore from a different planet with two sets of lips, ten arms and a lot of wavy tentacles.. Would he want her to tie him up, hang him over a beam and French him? How would he know which set of lips to kiss first? Maybe he would like a little titty fuck instead?” the idea struck her as hilariously funny which resulted in another cough attack. 

Walking over to the kitchen, Eva had a little breakfast to tide her over until the cold cleared off, then she ransacked the sickbay, looking for cold medicine but didn’t find any. There were some vials of a different language, probably Gallifreyan, so Eva left them alone. 

She didn’t want to go to bed but Eva reasoned that she didn’t have to go to sleep. Thanks to the Doctor her phone never needed charging, she could roam Intergalactic Google and use the TARDIS browser with ease so Eva pulled out her phone. Searching I Google she found the tentacle porn site the Doctor used and began to browse it more thoroughly. “Let’s see.. this was a favorite of the Doctor’s.. the eight breasted whore of Skarlax featuring two women dominatrixes from the 8th dimension. Oh my god the tentacles are freaking huge! Put them up there.. make ‘em tingle!” 

The medium would never have thought that the Doctor watched all kinds of odd tentacle porn. He’d always been so dismissive of the idea of a libido in general but Eva should have known it was all bluster. He was half human after all and a small part of his mind was definitely in tune to that. As she watched a very fat orange tentacle spear two women and put them upside down, Eva silently cheered them on. What she found so arousing was just the sounds of the tentacles as they went into the females; a wet sloppy sound. 

As the victims came Eva found that she did too. Closing her browser tab she put the phone in her nightstand drawer then was overcome with another coughing fit. The Doctor would eventually hear his companion’s attacks and come in to play doctor the way he always did. A little smile lifted up her mouth; maybe she could twist that to her advantage.. 

**

The Doctor picked up a snack in the kitchen then casually walked down the hallway to his room, intending to clean out his closet when he heard a sound. It was raspy, almost honking. An unproductive cough, the Doctor decided. Eva must have gotten something in her throat. 

“Eva?” he knocked on her door. “Are you all right?” 

“I’m sick, Doctor.” her weak voice informed him. The Doctor opened up a recessed panel outside the bedroom door and out of the darkness he pulled a medical bag and opened up Eva’s door. Stepping into the semi dark room, he turned on the overhead light and saw his friend lying propped up on her bed looking a little pathetic. 

“What are you doing?” she spied the bag he put on the floor near her bed. Sitting on the edge of Eva’s bed he was right beside her upper thighs, she noticed. Maybe she could have a little fun. 

“Examining you,” he said, putting a clip on her finger. “your blood oxygen levels are fine; I want to auscultate your lungs so lean forward.” 

Eva obediently did so, keeping her dirty thoughts at bay. It wasn’t until the Doctor started listening to her heart did she have an attack of coughing. He put the stethoscope disk on her chest while she fought to get her breath back, her chest heaving up and down enticingly. The Doctor noted her ample bosom going up and down but he was more focused on acting like a real doctor than getting sexually excited. 

“Sorry, Doctor.” 

“It’s all right. You’re sick after all. I need to scan the embryo to make sure it’s all right then I think we’ll be done here.” a quick reading with the screwdriver and he nodded. “It’s all right.” 

“Good.” 

“Simple cold virus got you,” the Doctor pulled out a jar of salve. “I believe you’re familiar with these kind of remedies. Are you allergic to menthol?” 

“No.” Eva’s eyes were barely open. “I’ll have to put that on when I wake up, Doctor..” she closed her lids, making her mind carefully blank so he would think that she had drifted off. The chances were small that the Doctor would actually put it on her chest but she could hope. 

“You’ve got a fever on you, girl,” the Doctor remarked with a little concern in his voice. “It’s about 101.6 actually,” he hesitated. “I’m only doing this because I don’t want to wake you up.” he took the jar, opened it up, then unbuttoned her shirt. The Doctor put some salve, a tiny drop on either side of her nose, rubbing it into her sinus cavities to open them up. 

Eva reacted to that, turning her head away from the Doctor and sneezing as the menthol took effect. She turned back with a sigh, keeping both hands pressed up against her belly while the Doctor gathered up his fortitude and took a bigger glob of the medicine on a few fingers. “You won’t remember this I’m sure.” he started rubbing some of the salve on her chest. The medium chose that second to look into the Doctor’s mind, finding that he was thinking about how sick she was; nothing even remotely dirty. 

What was she expecting? The Doctor to have naughty dreams about her? He’d never had any dreams about her that she could tell so she might as well leave it alone. With a flash of inspiration Eva knew how she could clue the Doctor into what she felt but it would have to wait until she got well again. 

The Doctor touched Eva’s forehead again, worried when he felt her fever go up about another degree. “I think it might be a bit more serious than we think.” 

The medium had to agree as she felt herself sliding into sleep.. 

**

The Doctor picked up a teacup, poured hot water in it, then chose his preferred tea brand from the shelf in the TARDIS kitchen, pulled out a bag and dunked it into the cup. Stopping by his room on the way to Eva’s he picked up a book from his nightstand, continuing on. 

Eva was lying in her bed motionless, her torso propped up a little bit to help her breathe. She had the telltale signs of a fever, the flushed cheeks, inability to keep herself awake for more than ten minutes at a time. The Doctor had tried to engage her in conversation but she was either too irritable or too confused to hold much of a conversation and would slide back into sleep. He had applied copious amounts of the salve to her chest in order to keep her comfortable which was working to some degree. 

His patient made a sound which startled him from his musings. Eva was pulling at her shirt, unbuttoning it and giving the Doctor a very healthy dose of her chest. He could see from her neck all the way down to her midsection but most of her breasts were still covered up. The Doctor, flushing pink, buttoned the button at the center of her bosom so she didn’t accidentally expose herself to him. 

“Eva must be feeling really hot but her fever is only about 102.1 and I think it’s starting to wane,” he wrote. “she got fidgety and tried to remove her shirt but didn’t quite make it. Fortunately her modesty is intact though I did get a glimpse of her from the clavicles all the way down to the top of her pelvis. I can say she is put together quite well. If I was a regular human..” he chose to leave off there. 

Towards the end of the day the Doctor checked on Eva again, happy to discover that her fever had started to go down. She roused to the Doctor’s touch as he put a hand to her forehead but did not open her eyes. 

The Doctor opened up his medical bag, pulled out a vial and injected Eva with a fever reducer. It was a highly concentrated drug from Gallifrey though there was a slight risk of side effects. Eva might be a little drowsy when she woke up. 

**

Eva opened up her eyes seeing that it was nighttime; her clock read it was 1:23 AM in glowing digits. She felt better though the congestion hadn’t really changed. Where was the Doctor? 

A light snore interrupted her musings. The Doctor was parked in the armchair next to her bed and he was sound asleep. Eva smiled happily to see that he was getting some rest and judging from the amount of dishes and a few cups, she must have been out for awhile. Putting one hand to her forehead she noted a cool dewy sweat blossoming, no more hot heat that made her think she was burning. The medium noticed that there was only button fastened on her sleep shirt and wondered what had happened. Probably something extremely innocent, knowing the Doctor. Remembering what she’d viewed in the sunglasses and her own attitude towards sex Eva decided to have a little fun. 

“Doctor,” Eva moaned in a very low voice. “get into this mind...” she was able to put a few fingers to one of his temples, sending him some very hot images of herself. The Doctor responded to it, actually moaning a little bit. Eva responded with a sexy moan she used at the height of her sexual frenzy, teasing him wildly. Back home she’d been a bit of a cock tease, enjoying drawing it out until her ex bent her over the kitchen table and pummeled into her like a crazed man. 

Eva sent the Doctor one more mental image, her slightly sweaty head pressed into a pillow, eyes closed, moaning loudly as she came hard. Grinning like the Cheshire cat, the medium retreated, closing her eyes and playing innocent just as the Doctor opened up his eyes. 

“Oh my god,” he wiped his eyes and picked up his diary. “crazy sexual dreams.. how are you doing, Eva? When I dream like that I usually protect Eva’s mind from my influence..” 

The medium realized that the Doctor did have sexual dreams about her and he did indeed fancy her in some degree. Inwardly flattered, Eva opened up her eyes with a little sigh. 

“Eva,” he noticed right away. “how are you feeling now?” 

“I’m still congested but I don’t have a fever anymore,” she coughed but it wasn’t as bad as previously. “I feel nasty.” the medium attempted to get out of her bed so she could go and take a shower but got tangled up in the bed and fell off with a squeak. 

“Are you all right?” the Doctor pulled the sheets off of her. 

Eva started to laugh, having landed faceup and her whole belly was exposed. “I just wanted a shower to clean up not win a date with the dust bunnies on the floor!” 

“Those aren’t dust bunnies; those are dust rhinos, girl!” the Doctor pulled her up, a wry grin appearing on his face. “You’re a little loopy after the drug I gave you to get rid of your fever.” 

“I don’t care; I want some more of that stuff,” Eva wobbled a little bit. “I feel a little punch drunk like a buzz.” 

“That will wear off soon. You should come back to bed, Eva.” he steadied her. 

“The Doctor wants me back in bed… are you going to take me into bed, Doctor, and ravish me like a crazy horny alien?” she let him steer her to the bed and obediently got into it. 

He gave a barely perceptible pause, taking the sheets off the floor and spreading them over her. Eva wasn’t so drugged up that she didn’t notice, knowing that he would write it off to her being under the influence. “Come on, Doctor, don’t you ever fantasize about how good I am in bed?” 

“You’re still sick; I’m not having this conversation with you.” he tried to shut her up but that didn’t work. 

“Con.. converas.. conversations help, Doctor!” Eva curled up on her side to face him. “I got something on my mind I should tell you.” 

“Really, what is that?” the Doctor spread the comforter over his sick friend, not intending to listen very seriously; Eva was high as a kite. 

“I found your sunglasses and looked at your browser history… all of it..” 

“Why did you do that?” the Doctor was taken aback but he didn’t seem too angry about it. 

“You always say stuff about not looking! I thought it was a joke; if you were serious you would have del-deleted it,” Eva answered. “I saw all this alien on human stuff, alien on alien stuff.. but the tent-tentacle shit was fucking HOT!” 

The Doctor was giving her a stern glare until that moment when his surprise clearly showed on his face. Eva giggled drunkenly as she continued, “If you had tentacles I know what I’d do with ‘em… shove ‘em right up there, shake hands with the embryo.. do such hot shit to me..” 

“Eva, go back to sleep. When you wake up-” 

“It won’t be a dream, Doctor!” she said in a sing song voice. “I know it, you know it.. my sweaty tits know it.. you can’t deny this chemistry between us. There’s something else you should know.” 

“Oh, what’s that?” he said in a bored voice. 

“I..,” she leaned in closer to him. “have almost no gag reflex. I can take anything. Teabag away!” she moved one arm in a circular motion, thudding it back down on the bed with a laugh. “Oooh, the room’s going all dizzyy.. time to stop the room, I wanna get off… hehe, get off..” 

The Doctor said nothing, just pulled the comforter up tighter. Not a moment too soon her eyes closed and Eva went back to sleep. She had hit the nail on the head; no matter how drugged out she was Eva had clearly sensed the Doctor having sexual dreams about her. The Time Lord always kept things platonic in order to avoid acting on his basic half human instinct to mate. He didn’t get the desire very much but lately he had been having dreams about Eva in a sexual manner. 

**

The next time Eva awakened the Doctor was nowhere to be seen. Memories of her drugged out behavior came back and while she laughed about it, getting into the shower and scrubbing down, she also knew that the Doctor was a bit too neurotic to take things at face value. She coughed and tried to shift the congestion but it didn’t work. 

Eva was ready to get dressed for real this time so she chose tight blue jeans, her ‘booty jeans’, a neon orange shirt that buttoned up, and a pair of hoop earrings. Tying her shoes she went out to the console room where the Doctor was standing. He looked up at her and mechanically smiled but she wasn’t fooled. 

What other girl was going to find tentacle porn hot? He asked himself. Even River hadn’t liked it; she was special in other ways. Eva was a lot like him so as she approached him by the console he tried to think about what he wanted to say. 

“Doctor, I probably should apologize for last night,” she started off. “I have no excuse other than the fact that I was drugged.” 

“Yes you were drugged. However even under the influence you couldn’t lie to me. I thank you for the apology and the fact you confessed to snooping in my browser history.” the Doctor said tightly, radiating disapproval and even anger. 

“All that’s left now is the other shoe to drop. I think I may have touched a nerve with you last night, Doctor. I went too far.” 

“Yes you did. I had a rather inappropriate dream regarding us-” 

“Doctor, dreams are dreams. You’re censoring yourself because you think it’s inappropriate,” Eva cut him off. “stop with the mind for a second and think with the hearts. Did it feel wrong or right?”

“It felt very right,” he flushed red this time. Eva was happy to see her dream influencing had a good effect on him. “very right indeed but that doesn’t mean that it’s OK.” 

“It’s your subconscious, Doctor.” did he know she had put the dreams in his head? 

“Eva, I know you put dreams in my head!” he lost his cool at her. “Why did you think that it was OK to do that to me?! Are you trying to make me your boyfriend?!”

“Doctor, I don’t know what I was thinking! I was sick and I acted impulsively. Look, I know you think it’s too late to apologize for that and you’re right on that count.” she was trying to pacify him but her actions cut too deeply for the Doctor’s comfort. 

“You got that right, girl!” he snarled, programming in a location for the TARDIS. “It seems that I was mistaken in thinking I could trust you!”

“You’re overreacting!” Eva cut him off. “Doctor, you are acting impulsively now; acting just like I did last night! Don’t do anything that you’re going to regret later on!” her brown eyes were shooting laser beams at him now. 

“Sit down and be quiet!” the Doctor barked as the TARDIS’s time rotors churned, landing with a thud. “We’re at your house now; I set it for three months after you first disappeared. Get out!” 

“Well, I guess I’m fired then!” Eva stood up, getting close to the Doctor, glaring at him with hatred in her eyes now; something the Doctor never saw. “There will come a time when you will regret what you’ve done to me! All I did was help you see your hearts’ desire, a truth that you are not willing to accept no matter what the consequences. You will be angry with yourself that you overreacted, you shut yourself off from the greatest emotion that you could ever know which in fact is love! I know you will miss me and you may come back at some point.” 

“I have to when the embryo is ready,” the Doctor growled. “other than that you won’t see me again!” 

“If you’re going to be snarling at me all the time when I try to help you then I hope that will be the last I see you!” Eva shot back. “You are a person who cannot be alone so have fun with that!” 

He did not reply but gave her an icy stare in return. Infuriated, Eva opened up the doors, saying, “What a stubborn stupid old man!” she walked into the bedroom of her little house, sat down on the bed then pulled her phone out of her pocket. The TARDIS disappeared as Eva accessed her text messages, deleting the thread with the Doctor’s moniker. Dialing a number she said, “Ben? Hi, Eva. It seems my tour of duty being an LPN for an old coot has concluded. What have you got for me?” 

**

The TARDIS was eerily silent now as if the ship itself was angry with the Doctor for what he had done. Flipping the switch he pretended not to notice, sitting down in a chair and gazing up at the ceiling. Memories of last night flooded his mind; Eva all drugged out, hardly making much sense but he knew she prized honesty above all else. Somehow she had tuned her psychic ability to the Doctor’s mind, discerning that he indeed thought of her sexually. Eva was right; it was a fault of his to treat his carnal desires like a personal flaw and she had tried to help him see that it was a part of being human after all. 

But he’d been so resistant to that, overreacting as she had anticipated. How had she known he’d do that? He was acting out emotionally which was another human trait. 

The Doctor had kicked out the companion that he’d truly felt was an equal to him. Realization hit the Doctor tenfold and the look of icy hate Eva had given him seemed to freeze his very soul. 

She hated him now.. the Doctor bowed his head, letting the tears fall thickly.


	10. Always A Choice

A/N: This touches down on the pandemic a bit; if you don’t like it, don’t read it. 

The Doctor put his sonic sunglasses away, poised his fingers on the keyboard and began to key in EARTH FEBRUARY 20 2020, intending to see what Eva was up to. Pressing the enter key he paused and thought about Eva and if she’d be receptive to seeing him again. Landing the TARDIS in a vacant lot near the city gave him time to think

Maybe I’m being too impulsive again, he thought, going over to the other side of the console. “Let’s distract myself with some music, eh?” the Doctor went to the second monitor screen, flipping on the Intergalactic Google and accessed some music by Queen. “This looks like fun!” he clicked on Liar. Eva really liked Queen; all the time she would be rocking out to Liar when she was in a good mood. Sitting on the stairs near the console he listened to the lyrics, thinking that the Daleks and some humans were definitely liars. 

“All day long, all day long, all day long  
Liar, liar, never ever let you win  
Liar, liar everything you do is sin  
Liar, nobody believes you  
Liar, they bring you down before you begin  
Ooh, let me tell you this  
Ah, yes, ah  
Before they let you...” the song faded away. 

The Doctor let his mind go back to his ex companion. His anger had faded away somewhat though he was still mad because she put perverted thoughts into his mind concerning the two of them. Eva discovered that the Doctor did indeed fancy her but he had no intention of acting on his irrational feelings. The medium had tried to tell him that his feelings were valid but he was not receptive towards it. 

When the anger had died away the Doctor felt a tremendous guilt settle over him. Only one word remained in his head now. River. His late wife would doubtlessly tease him over his attraction to Eva; yet he felt disloyal to the memory of River if he started acting on his feelings to the medium. Eva hadn’t known anything about River at all; she’d never seemed to pick up on the fact that he was married. That was partially the Doctor’s fault; he’d kept River in his mind securely locked off from any psychic’s intrusion. 

“Well, let’s see what Eva’s doing..” the telepathic link that Eva had forged between them was still as strong as ever. The Doctor concentrated on his friend’s mind then began to see what she was seeing. 

Eva was standing on a stage surrounded by people. It was a club at night, dark lighting, people wearing expensive clothes which were undoubtedly a status symbol. The medium glanced down at herself and the Doctor could see she was wearing a silver shiny button up shirt that was knotted just under her bust, the shirt completely unbuttoned. Eva wore a clear crystal pendant necklace, rhinestone teardrop earrings, a champagne colored mid thigh skirt with black shiny boots that went up to the bottom of her knees. 

Briefly Eva glanced in her compact; the Doctor could see her makeup was more dramatic than ever. A blue-silver smoky eye and dark coral lipstick stood out in the lights of the club. Grabbing a microphone, music came on. Grinning confidently Eva launched into a song as the karaoke machine activated the track. 

She’d never sung for the Doctor and now he got to experience it firsthand from her point of view. Eva had a pretty alto voice that she could flaunt, taking it up into the deeper soprano section. She sang the first part, striking poses and teasing the men in the crowd. 

“My heart's gone bad, now it won't beat for you  
You had your laugh, now I won't play the fool  
I've lied for you, and I liked it too  
But I'm black and blue, from bleedin' for you  
You strike the match, burn me out so fast  
Look what we had, now it's turned to ash  
I've lied for you, and I liked it too  
But my makeup's ruined  
And now I'm laughin' through my tears  
I'm cryin' through my fear  
But baby, if I had to choose  
The joke's on you  
The joke's on you  
God knows I've tried to be kind  
But I will just lay down and die  
Wearin' a fake smile  
The joke's on you...” she trailed off, beaming at the applause. The medium bowed, thanked the crowd, then got off the stage. 

“Gosh Eva, you’ve been really putting yourself out there lately,” one of her friends told her. “good for you.” 

“Thanks, Miranda,” the Doctor heard her answer. “nothing I like better after a relationship or friendship ends is to just get bombed and have some fun. Who else wants another Irish cream shot?” 

In the reflection of the shot glass the Doctor could tell that Eva had sensed his presence in her mind. She downed a shot, put the glass down and thought, This is me time and I’m not allowing you to communicate with me! She launched a little energy pulse which knocked his consciousness out of her mind in a sharp blow. The Doctor opened up his eyes, slightly winded from her psi impact. Eva had allowed him to see her on stage which was probably her intention. Sometimes he could get away with a little peek into her mind without her knowing which he was doing off an on. 

The Doctor wasn’t sure if she had been doing it to him-if she had he hadn’t noticed it all. A little wave of sadness came over him and he heaved a sigh, getting up and going to his bedroom. 

**  
CHRISTMAS EVE 2020

Eva punched out of work, all done her 12 hour shift in the emergency department. It was a gray and drizzly day, her car had issues so she had to take a taxi home. Opening up the door she had supper, changed out of her scrubs, then checked her text messages. Fiddling with the phone in her hand she toyed with the idea of sending the Doctor a message but wasn’t sure if he’d welcome receiving it. 

Some, well most really, of her anger had died down and she wished she hadn’t acted so impulsively in sending him lewd images of her. It definitely wasn’t her finest moment, just showing her in a different light. “Am I in love with the Doctor, is this a crush? What are my intentions towards him?” emotion was a complex thing and Eva realized she’d acted like a giddy girl, very happy to discover the Doctor had feelings for her; very eager to act on them. 

So once she discovered he did have feelings for her she’d developed feelings for him because she knew the affection was mutual, she reasoned. Eva knew he did have a little feeling for her by the way she’d seen him looking at her from the corner of her eye on occasion. Emotions were so complicated, the medium complained to herself. It wasn’t love, it was a crush which very often meant nothing. Eva was flattered to know that someone still found her desirable-after all he’d seen her at her worst and still supported her. 

The medium got into her pajamas and turned on the clock radio beside her. A song from the Fray came on and she found herself thinking of the Doctor.. 

“As he begins to raise his voice  
You lower yours and grant him one last choice  
Drive until you lose the road  
Or break with the ones you've followed  
He will do one of two things  
He will admit to everything  
Or he'll say he's just not the same  
And you'll begin to wonder why you came  
Where did I go wrong?  
I lost a friend  
Somewhere along in the bitterness  
And I would have stayed up with you all night  
Had I known how to save a life...” lying back on the bed, Eva felt a tear slip down her face at the realization she may never see him again. Turning off her phone and tossing it on the nightstand she sent a mental image to the Doctor. 

This time it wasn’t lewd at all. Simply an image of her teary eye that closed and the words Doctor, I’m sorry… 

On the TARDIS the Doctor had been lying on his bed when the powerful image broke into his mind. He could feel that Eva’s repentance was real, she was alone and tired, missing their adventures. The Time Lord was not sure if he wanted to have anything more to do with her but he heard a song coming into his head. Mentally he could see that Eva was now sleeping; just the sight of her looking so serene and relaxed made his hearts stir up. He really wanted to see her up close and personal again. 

What was that song that was playing? The Doctor listened closely. 

“I'm going under and this time I fear there's no one to turn to  
This all or nothing way of loving got me sleeping without you  
Now, I need somebody to know  
Somebody to heal  
Somebody to have  
Just to know how it feels  
It's easy to say but it's never the same  
I guess I kinda liked the way you helped me escape...” 

The Doctor picked up his phone, checking his text messages. Eva hadn’t texted him anything for awhile but that didn’t mean she wasn’t missing him. He texted, I want to talk to you. 

“She’ll get that when she wakes up,” the Doctor changed into his pajamas and went to bed as well. 

**

The next day Eva powered up her phone, saw the text from the Doctor and texted back, Let me know when and where. 

Her phone buzzed. Where we met before at 12 PM. 

At 12 Eva dressed in a red and green floral skirt, pink button up shirt, and black knee high boots. She had pulled her hair back with barrettes, rhinestone studs were in her ears and she looked a little nervous. The medium pulled out a small compact and checked her makeup. Putting pink shadow on the lids was always a bit of the risk-the shadow tended to stain but her pink smoky eye did look good. Taking a sip of her drink she noted a bit of dark pink transfer but she ignored it. A gruff Scottish accent permeated her thoughts which caused her nervousness to get a little more intense. 

“Well. Happy Christmas to you!” the Doctor sat down and grinned at her, picking up on her dismal mood. “How has it been going, Eva?” 

“It’s bloody miserable here,” the medium grunted. “you know what’s going on?” 

“I do. You’re lucky this coffeehouse hasn’t been shut down yet. You’re wearing more makeup than usual.” the Doctor frowned. 

“Yeah. I’ve been working godawful double shifts lately in emergency, diagnosing people sick with the damn plague the whole planet’s been infected with,” Eva’s eyes were dim and lackluster. “I can’t get a break, honestly.” 

“You’re thinner than you were too. Eva, are you sick with the illness?” 

“Not to my knowledge. Like I said, 24 hour shifts and my fingers are worn down to the bone. I can’t do it anymore. Doctor-” Eva bit her lip, her eyes filling up. “I can’t go on like this anymore.” 

The Doctor had been keeping tabs on Eva ever since the pandemic started. He knew what she had gone through each month thanks to the TARDIS’s extremely efficient data gathering on his friend. The medium had at least a hundred deaths on her watch while the pandemic raged and he could guess the mental toll it had taken on her. Eva’s liveliness had gone but in spite of his concern for her, some things still needed to be said. 

“Shop’s closing.” a clerk warned them. The Doctor picked up his drink in a huff followed by Eva, putting on her black greatcoat. 

“Where can we go to talk?” 

“How about my place? Where’s the TARDIS?” 

“I parked her near your place-in your main hall in fact.” 

“Come on then,” she opened up the door to her car. The Doctor slid in, admiring the interior. “you’ll find it’s very low tech in here.” 

“Less distractions while driving.” the Doctor stayed neutral while Eva fastened her seatbelt, turned on the car and drove home. 

“This place used to be bustling with people in Christmas Eve and now it’s all just a distant memory now. I wish for the old days, Doctor.” it didn’t take too long to get to her place. Eva’s morose mood, not surprising to the Doctor entirely, worried him. She would be more likely to do something to herself when she was depressed so the Doctor was still on his guard. 

As she reached out and unlocked her door, the Doctor looked down at her forearms and didn’t see a mark which was encouraging. The two of them sat down at her kitchen table as Eva’s cat jumped in her lap to purr a hello. The medium smiled a little bit as she held up a big longhair cat. 

“Meet Jade the cat. She’s very friendly.” Jade draped herself across her owner’s shoulders, tail dangling down from one side. 

“You’ve a cat now!” the Doctor wasn’t really a cat fan but he did like them. The big cat seemed to find the awkward stance more comfortable than the Doctor thought it would be. Eva looked like she had big furry boa with a tail across her shoulders. 

“Well, my personal issues and great depression from the situation aside, I would like to apologize again for my actions on board the TARDIS, Doctor. I forced you into something you weren’t ready for.” she scratched her pet’s head, producing a purr. 

“I accept. And I apologize for kicking you off the TARDIS. How long has it been?” 

“Three months. I came back here in October.” 

“I thought so. But something needs saying here first off,” the Doctor pressed Eva’s hands. “I missed you terribly; while I do admit to feelings for you I am not sure if I want to act on them just yet.” 

“This is a start-you admitting to the feelings part.” 

“Tell it like it is just like you do,” the Doctor smiled at her. “got to clear the air. I do not wish to give you false hope, Eva, I mean to see what happens. Can you deal with that?” 

“Of course I can. I should be honest as well; as soon as I could tell you had feelings for me my feelings for you just exploded and I reacted like a giddy teenager. I don’t know where to go with this either.” 

“Just check with me first,” the Doctor picked her hands up off the table. “can I read your mind for a moment?” 

“You want to see what I’ve been through? Yeah OK.” she relaxed, closing her eyes as the Doctor saw all the hardships she’d been through recently. Patients dying, close contact with bereaved families, howls of grief echoing through the halls, postmortems, wires, tubes, white halls, first responders. All the death that Eva had seen.. people dying left and right and not just because of the pandemic. Elderly people who didn’t have others to help them, people who were chronically sick not able to get a visit in with their doctors, not able to afford medication, people on streets dying of drug overdoses because they couldn’t get help when they needed it. 

There was more than that but the Doctor didn’t want to see any more. He leaned in to see Eva open up her eyes and a tear glistened in one of them. Her eyes were very bright now, reflecting what a strong person she was but also what the past 3 months had done to her soul. Eva had mentally been stretched to her breaking point he could clearly see that. Being a nurse wasn’t easy and he had to give mental kudos to everyone in the healthcare field. 

“My god,” the Doctor finished his coffee and looked up, not letting go of Eva’s hand. She looked at him with that familiar expression of depressed yet exasperated while she waited for him to gather his thoughts. “you went through that?” 

“I’m a nurse-we have all seen it, Doctor,” Eva replied shakily. “we tell ourselves it’s part of our jobs and become indifferent to it after awhile but inside it tears us up! I can’t go on like this; I feel completely broken inside.”

He could understand that completely-Eva looked like she was moments away from suffering a nervous breakdown. In the current climate the Doctor did not think she would survive-resources were extremely limited. “I think people forget what a toll it takes on you,” he told her softly, standing up and walking close to her. “you’ve seen things that you shouldn’t have to see, Eva. No one should. At the rate you’re going now, tomorrow could be your last day on earth.” 

“At least it would be over by then and I wouldn’t have to care anymore.” she told him in a tearful whisper. 

“What about those who care about you?” he countered very swiftly, taking both her hands again. “I know you don’t get on well with your family, you have a few friends, but what about me?” 

“You’d just go back in time to save me from myself.” Eva assumed as the Doctor put one hand on the side of her face, making her lean into it a little bit. 

“Always assuming. No, your death turns into a fixed point in history and I can’t change that. Once you’re gone, you’re gone.” 

“So much for changing the future then,” the medium exhaled. “Doctor, what am I going to do?”

“I intend to take you back on board the TARDIS with me so we can leave here. I think a little travel would be just the thing for you.” Eva’s eyes lit up. 

“You’re giving me a second chance?” 

“I’m doing what’s best for you which is leaving here-I think you will die if I don’t take you. If not by your own hand than the severe overwork you’ve suffered. Nobody deserves that.” the Doctor was sincere. 

“All right and I swear I’ll keep the feelings out of it. I’ll let you take the lead on that one.” 

The Doctor seemed satisfied with her answer and flicked the cat’s tail teasingly. “I’ll let you bring Jade the cat too.” the cat’s big green eyes studied the Doctor. 

“She’ll cuddle with you if you let her. Let me just grab her things and some of mine and I’ll be right with you.” Eva slung on her purse, grabbed a carrier, then pocketed some of her new makeup finds while the Doctor opened up the door to the TARDIS for her. Eva scribbled a note in case anyone stopped by, leaving it on the kitchen table. 

The medium locked her door, taking the key from the deadbolt and facing the Doctor. “What did you write on that note?” 

“I wrote ‘going away to fix my mental health problems’.” Jade looked up at the snow but didn’t move from her perch. The Doctor scratched one of her ears. 

“I think that’s close enough to the truth, right?” they entered the TARDIS, the Doctor pulled the switch and they left the earth. Eva walked to her room, putting Jade down and setting out her food and water bowl. It took a few minutes to get the cat settled then Eva turned to see the Doctor staring at her from the doorway. 

He scanned her with the sonic and glanced at her in mild disapproval. “You haven’t been taking care of yourself. The sonic shows nutrition depletion. If you keep this up the embryo will be in distress.” his eyes cut to her pelvis in concern. Eva put her hand on her pelvis, acknowledging the Doctor’s worry. 

“I couldn’t get in a proper meal inbetween patients and when I get home I’m too depressed to eat anything.” it wasn’t an excuse. 

“Have you felt anything?” 

“No. Maybe it’ll respond to you. It likes you.” the Doctor went up to Eva, putting his hand just below her belt. There wasn’t any glow there like before which worried him. Jade let out a little meow like she sensed something was wrong too. 

“I hope to god you didn’t miscarry! Come on!” he took her to the sickbay where she sat down on a bed, watching him do something. The Doctor rustled in a supply cabinet, bringing out a small bottle and a tablet over to the bed. “Eva, lie down.” she obeyed him, knowing that he was going to get an ultrasound image to be sure that the embryo was still there. 

“Did the sonic pick up on it at all?” she inquired, drawing her shirt up a little bit. The Doctor pressed the probe to her pelvis, studying the screen intently. 

“It did but the heartbeat was borderline, meaning that I can’t be sure that your body is rejecting it or not,” 

“Oh god I don’t want to lose it. I forgot that it was there for awhile.” the Doctor gently moved Eva’s hand out of the way as he took more images. 

“It’s still there at least,” he said finally, pressing down a little harder. “it seems that the embryo sensed that you were in a bad place emotionally and physically and started hibernating. That’s why it’s not moving.” Eva sighed in relief, lying back limply. 

“Clever little thing.” they could see the embryo not moving on the screen. 

“Indeed. The Titan technology has some perks,” the Doctor shifted the probe, noticing the scar where he’d stitched Eva up from their adventure in Yosemite. “you healed up quite well.” Eva rolled her eyes, not saying a word. “So the embryo is all right-it will wake up out of hibernation as soon as your nutritional status improves.” 

“We can fix that, right?” the screen went blank as the Doctor went over to the medicine cabinet, withdrawing a big 50 mL syringe and loaded it up with an opaque substance. 

“I can fix that easily. The tricky bit is to give you enough so that it wakes up in there. Once it wakes up we’ll know you’re both on the right track. What vein in your arm is the best, d’you know?” 

“Try this one.” the Doctor injected Eva with the needle, pressing down on the syringe steadily. The two of them didn’t speak for a long moment then the Doctor discarded the syringe. 

“Now let’s see what’s going on in there!” the Doctor picked up the probe, moving the tablet so Eva could see it better. The embryo remained motionless so the Doctor repeated the injection. “Still in hibernation so I need to give you another shot-you really haven’t been taking care of yourself!” 

“Oh, sorry!” Eva held the probe to her skin while the Doctor gave her a third shot. “Third time’s the charm, Doctor!” 

“So it seems! You humans and your weird sayings!” he took the probe, moved it around, then the Doctor saw the embryo jump, both on the screen and through Eva’s skin. 

“Ow! I didn’t need to see that one!” she winced, rubbing her upper abdominal area. “Doctor, I think it’s back!” 

“Yes it appears so,” he agreed. “the embryo’s grown some-it occupies all the free space you have in there now.” it looked the same as always to the Doctor. 

“Yeah, it’s moving all right. I think this means that we are on the right track now.” Eva propped herself up on her elbows. 

“Feeling more alert are we?” the Doctor put the equipment away, wiping the gel off of Eva’s pelvis. 

“Yep. So, where are we going to go now?” Eva reattached her belt and hopped off the bed. The two of them walked into the console room together in companionable silence. The Doctor turned to Eva with a smile then said to her, “Glad to have you back, Eva!” he hugged her happily as she smiled. “Let’s get your mental health back with a nice trip to Alpha Centauri! Lots of interesting people there-it’s a gathering place of sorts.” the embryo didn’t seem to like being squeezed so it pushed Eva in retaliation. 

“Ouch!” she complained, rubbing her belly as they drew apart. “Now I’m sorry we woke it up!” the Doctor laughed. 

“We’ll see where the TARDIS takes us!” he pressed a switch.

Eva watched the time rotors churning away then moved over beside the Doctor, wiping her lipstick off with a tissue she put in her pocket, then kissed him on the cheek. “Now it’s a happy Christmas, Doctor. I’m very happy to be back with you.” 

The Doctor responded by putting his arm around her waist in a half hug, not wanting to irritate the embryo again. He smiled down at his friend, kissing her on the cheek and handing her a little box. Eva opened it up then picked up a rectangle set in silver with all sorts of colors drifting through it like a lava lamp. “It looks like the TARDIS when it dematerializes. Thank you so much, Doctor. I didn’t get you anything though.” 

“You’re here with me now and you brought your cat. That’s all I could ask for,” he pressed a kiss to her temple. “happy Christmas, Eva.”


	11. Stopover on Skaro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The TARDIS doors opened up, sucking both people out of the ship completely. The ship landed several feet away from the two people in a blank white room. The Doctor and Eva both hit their heads upon impact; Eva shut her eyes and passed out, the Doctor lasted a few minutes longer, crawling over to his friend, taking her hand in his, collapsing next to her. Blood trailed down from a cut on the Doctor’s head, dripping down onto the right side of Eva’s chest.

Stopover On Skaro

“Whoa, Doctor, I don’t think the TARDIS is supposed to be doing this!” Eva clung to one railing as the Doctor clung to the other one. The Doctor tried to adjust a setting on the TARDIS and suddenly it was caught in some kind of temporal shift. Eva heard the cloister bell sound once and winced. “I know that’s not good!” 

The TARDIS doors opened up, sucking both people out of the ship completely. The ship landed several feet away from the two people in a blank white room. The Doctor and Eva both hit their heads upon impact; Eva shut her eyes and passed out, the Doctor lasted a few minutes longer, crawling over to his friend, taking her hand in his, collapsing next to her. Blood trailed down from a cut on the Doctor’s head, dripping down onto the right side of Eva’s chest. 

Unseen figures danced around the sides of Eva’s vision. She turned her head slightly to find her vision was filled with gray hair-the Doctor’s. “Doctor..” she said very faintly as the room’s doors opened up. 

“YOU ARE THE DOCTOR!” a Dalek announced, wiggling the eyestalk at Eva. The medium was too weak to respond, clutching at the Doctor’s hand which she had found attached to hers. Closing her eyes she submitted to darkness.

Time passed by for the unconscious pair; Eva revived first, finding herself lying on a white cushiony bed underneath a window. The Doctor was nowhere in sight and Eva was about to get up and start asking questions when a figure moved into her vision. 

It was a peculiar figure, a guy in a weird kind of wheelchair, fully motorized but not like any other wheelchair she’d ever seen. The guy had a blue eye looking thing in the center of his head and his face looked aged; rather droopy with two eyeholes that suggested he’d once been human. The head was weird; metal circles encompassed the back for some reason. Eva’s eyes widened; she would have recoiled back and run away if she was physically able to. The guy looked like a half mutated cyborg and just wrong to her human sensibilitites. 

“Who are you?” she demanded, ignoring the pain in her head. “Where the hell am I?”

“You are awake at last,” a very gravelly voice observed. “welcome, Time Lord.” 

“I’m not a Time Lord. Who are you?” 

“You do not know me?” he seemed surprised. “I am feared throughout the universe, the creator of the Daleks.” 

“Not ringing a bell. My name is Eva and I’m a psychic,” she wanted to get up but her head hurt too much. “who are you?” 

“My name is Davros,” the weird cyborg told her. “you have suffered quite a head injury so do not attempt to move.” 

“No kidding.” she was forced to lie back. “Where am I?” she was in a holding cell, a bland sandstone formation with a plexiglas window which overlooked the other buildings. Daleks moved around outside, one was guarding her window and several others. Eva knew she couldn’t escape even if she wanted to; the guards were too thick and Davros didn’t seem like the kind of person who would grant mercy. 

“You are on the planet of the Daleks. I have heard about the Doctor and his psychic friend and I wanted to meet you.” 

“I’m nothing special,” the medium groaned. “besides I won’t be able to hold conversations until my head injury heals.” 

“We won’t let that stop us,” Davros dismissed her concern. “while you are weak I can easily get the answers from you.” 

“Why would I ever help you?” 

Sharp pain stabbed the left side of her head. Eva put one hand up and found dried blood on her scalp. The medium wanting to close her eyes but she knew it would be a bad idea until she could get medical help. Now that she was conscious she was aware of another pain on her left thigh. She couldn’t lift up her head to see what the issue was so she had to let her hand check it out. There was an open wound; a big cut mid thigh but it had stopped bleeding already. She would have a problem with mobility but she wasn’t going anywhere for awhile it seemed. 

“You have no choice,” Davros assumed, moving his chair closer. “you are a Time Lord and will help us!” 

“Help you to do what? Why do you keep calling me a Time Lord anyway?”

“You have two hearts. My Daleks saw this and brought you to me.” 

“Well, you’ve let me live so far so I can be grateful for that at least. Shit, my shoulder..” a fresh pain assaulted her on the right side. “I got banged up really good out there.” Eva bit back a cry of pain, not wanting Davros to hear her weakness as well as see it. 

“Soon your wounds will have you regenerating.” Davros smirked and hoped secretly to try to hijack Eva’s regenerative power-he’d already had a bit of it when the Doctor visited previously. 

“Well, when that happens I hope you’re sorry that I did!” Eva knew it was no use to argue with a cyborg. “I’ll be at 100% again and ready to kill you!” 

“My Daleks will kill you before you get out this door,” Davros said proudly. “you know they are mentally linked to me. Is this your first foray out of Gallifrey, woman?” 

“Yes it is! Ugh!” her head pain became more pronounced. “What is it you want from me exactly?” 

“The Doctor!” 

“Where is he? Don’t you have him?” 

“No! The Doctor is not found on any Dalek scout I have sent!” 

“Good for him then,” Eva muttered. “he will find me.” 

“I am counting on it, woman,” Davros sneered. “when he comes for you we will get him!” 

“In the meantime how about some medical help?” Eva knew she was not going to get it but she had to play innocent. “I could be worth more to you alive.” 

“Your injuries are not fatal.” Davros abruptly left the room, his chair making a high pitched whine. 

Eva lay still for a long moment, watching the sun set, not knowing how long she’d been unconscious. Thinking of the Doctor she sent him a telepathic message; Doctor, I’m with a man called Davros, I’m hurt badly and I need medical help. Did she have her phone still on her? She used her painful right arm to fish in her back pocket and pull out her rectangular device. Miraculously it had survived her fall and she was able to text the Doctor her message. 

“I hope you didn’t get hurt too.” was her only concern. There was a small amount of blood on her shirt that she knew wasn’t hers. A little memory came up of the Doctor’s head on her chest and he must have been bleeding from a superficial wound. The medium relaxed, closing her eyes with a sigh, allowing herself to black out. 

**

The Doctor didn’t remember much from the landing. His head had been on Eva’s chest when someone pulled him off of her, quickly dragging him off from their landing site. He didn’t want to be separated from her, he thought he was telling someone not to separate them but his request was ignored. The Doctor caught a passing glimpse of a white bunker set in a rock wall then he closed his eyes. 

“What have you got there Tarkin?” a deep voice asked. 

“Time Lord by the double hearts, Anin.” 

“How badly is he hurt?” 

“Not too badly. He’s got a head injury and some cuts, nothing that can’t be mended.” 

“Good. This might be the Doctor-we’ve allied against the Daleks with him before.” 

Who were those people talking? The Doctor tried to remember who they were but nothing was coming to his mind. He heard a beeping noise then felt someone pushing up the sleeve on his left arm, a hiss, then he passed back out again. In his mind he heard Eva’s voice, telling him that she’d been injured in the landing and needed medical aid. 

“Is he reviving yet, Tarkin?” 

“He should be coming around soon, probably around another ten minutes or so. It’s very close.” 

“All right then. Please let me know.” 

“Of course.” 

Some time later the Doctor began to rouse. He blearily opened up his eyes, taking in the plain white surroundings with a little wince and groaned. 

“You’re up!” a figure clad all in white stood up to greet him. “I’m Tarkin.” 

There was something very familiar about the uniform. It took the Doctor a moment to remember but he did. “You’re a Movellan.” 

“You must be the Doctor,” Tarkin smiled. “I’ve heard stories about you.” 

The Doctor sat up, touching his forehead. His superficial cut had been tended to; he felt no residual aftereffects of his injury. “How badly was I injured?” 

“You had a concussion, a few broken ribs, broken left arm but we mended that in a second. You should be fit as soon as the medicine’s sedating effect wears off.” Tarkin smiled in reassurance, his young face caused the Doctor to estimate he was probably around 28 years old in earth terms. 

“Right. Amazing technology you have. Where are we?” he looked around himself, seeing a white room and a medical healing apparatus. It looked like a CAT scanner with several interesting looking attachments. The Doctor had a gray patch on his neck which looked like it was dispersing medication directly into his bloodstream. He wanted to take it off but resisted. 

“We have a field bunker here on Skaro where the Daleks live.” 

The Doctor’s eyes widened. “You’re the kamikaze force then.” 

“If you want to think that way, yes,” Tarkin was tolerant. “we monitor the Daleks closely in case they show signs of wanting to invade another world. At this time Davros doesn’t have any plans but that could change.” 

“How do you stay hidden?” 

“We’re on a cliff face; the Daleks can’t navigate this terrain.” 

“Did you take me from my TARDIS?”

“We found you several feet from your ship and we moved it over here near the cliff so the Daleks can’t detect it. Their technology doesn’t work around rocks.” 

“Where’s my friend?” 

“Your friend was taken by the Daleks. We rescued you but we were too late to save her. She was injured as well.” 

“We need to get her back; I can’t leave her to the mercy of the Daleks!” 

“As soon as you’re ready, Doctor, we will mount an attack,” Tarkin assured him. “that sedative’s effects have no abated yet but you’ll be ready to go soon. Anin’s already making a plan. We will get her back.” 

“Good.” the Doctor felt his head spinning from the medicine he’d been given. Eva, I’m coming soon, he telepathically told his friend. Hang tight. 

An image drifted to his mind of Eva lying motionless in a dark room with enough moonlight so he could see her injuries. Or perhaps it was a dream; he rushed to her aid, seeing bloody wounds all over her and copious amounts of blood all over the floor. 

When the hour was up, the Doctor felt revitalized so Tarkin let him into the strategy room where Anin was poring over the maps they’d made of the Dalek civilization. Like everything else on the Movellan world everything was white, a bit blinding to the Doctor but he wasn’t in any position to complain about anything. He took a seat near Anin who was pondering out loud the best way to attack the Dalek hive where the supreme Dalek usually resided. 

“A raid would probably be the best bet,” Anin decided. “I’m glad to meet you, Doctor. They tell stories of you-you pop up in some wars now and again. I was glad to hear that your Time War is completely over. Did you ever find Gallifrey? I heard it had vanished.” 

The Doctor remembered that the Movellans and Time Lords were allies so he did not feel uncomfortable telling him the truth. “Yes we found Gallifrey again.” 

“My congratulations, Doctor!” Anin smiled. “I was invited to tour Gallifrey years ago when I was part of the Galactic Federation on Alpha Centauri. I was impressed by it’s peacefulness.” 

“Thank you, Anin. Now, how can we raid the Dalek hive? I don’t even know where Eva’s being held.” 

“Well, one of our scouts yesterday saw some activity in the outer region of the hive here,” Anin pointed on the map. The Dalek hive was in circular structures, round domes denoted where prisoners were kept. “she’ll be on the first floor which is a bonus for us for obvious reasons. We’ve timed the security Daleks and know their patrol routes intimately.” 

“Good. How will you defend yourselves when they attack you?” 

“For that we have these,” Anin showed the Doctor what looked like a space age tommy gun. “it’s a dematerialization or demat gun. We shoot a Dalek with this and they disappear from the hive and reappear out in the special containment area we have set up. The containment forcefield they can defeat but it will take them about an hour. We can give you an hour to get in and get out with your friend.” 

“Better than nothing! What about Davros?” 

“One of our men will seal him off in the infirmary which is where he always hangs out.” 

“From what I understand Davros still runs the show and uses Dalek supreme as a figurehead. Someone should disable communications as well. No sense in letting the others know.” 

“Davros has a power transformer right outside the infirmary here. I’ll shoot that out with my phaser ray gun to buy us some more time.” Anin decided. 

“When can we start? My friend won’t be able to do anything-she’s injured.” 

“Naturally our first priority will be her safety. It would be awkward to cart her back here on a stretcher so I’ll have Tarkin here carry her back; he’s the strongest one that we have.” 

”Good,” the Doctor felt confident. “do you think they’ll do anything to her in the meantime?” 

“I personally don’t think so, no. They’ve been known to hold onto prisoners for weeks and starve them to death while torturing for information.” Anin stood up. “The Daleks don’t see gender and she’s human, right? So they’d only see one heartbeat and they may hold on to her because she travels with you.” 

“Right.. the one heartbeat.. they’re going to see two heartbeats in her and think she’s a Time Lord.” 

“Is she?” 

“No,” the Doctor looked Anin square in the eye. “she’s actually pregnant.” 

“You let a pregnant human travel with you?” 

“It’s a long story; she’s got an embryo given to her by a foolish young alien from Titan,” the Doctor rubbed one eye a little bit. “let’s not go there.” 

“I have heard of the reproductive technology of the Titans,” Tarkin said thoughtfully. “they grow their young with technology and when their embryos need to mature they find volunteers and the volunteer takes them the rest of the way. The luxury of it is she’s not experiencing typical symptoms at all.” 

“There was a time when we forgot her condition for awhile. Eva was malnourished and run down for awhile.” 

Tarkin nodded. “Some literature says that the embryo can go into hibernation in times of stress.” 

“We’ll have to ask you more questions when we return,” the Doctor promised. “are we ready to go?” 

“Yes we are, Doctor.” Anin lifted up his guns. 

“Here we come, Eva!” the Doctor led the way while the Movellans cheered, walking after him down the long hallway. More people followed out of every room they passed, happy to have an excuse to attack the Daleks. 

At the end of the corridor there was a lift which Anin, the Doctor and Tarkin got into. Anin punched the button for the ground level and all of them waited. The Doctor was reminded of a time when Eva told him that she didn’t like elevators. She had claustrophobia but it was to a mild degree. Eva told him once that she had to have a closed MRI and her claustrophobia got so bad they had to sedate her briefly as the scan took about 45 minutes. 

“What is it, Doctor?” Anin inquired, seeing the Time Lord grinning. 

“My friend has claustrophobia and she won’t like getting in this lift.” the door opened up into the humid Skaro day. 

“I’m sure she’ll tolerate it well.” Anin led the way, conferring with the other team leaders to get into position near the Dalek hive. 

“Everyone’s already in position. Waiting for the signal.” came the response. 

**

In the cloudy gray Skaro day Eva opened up one eye as the pain in her head seemed to get worse. Her right shoulder was throbbing, the wound in her thigh felt warm to the touch so she knew that it was definitely getting infected. Lying around with open wounds wasn’t exactly ideal but Eva was in one piece at least. The Doctor was coming for her, she knew it in her heart. She’d received a telepathic message that he was coming and to hang tight for a little while longer. With her vision swimming she knew that consciousness would be fleeting. 

At least the room was kind of on the big side and had a somewhat comfortable sleeping surface on it. It was about the little things in life to be grateful for. Eva blearily thought that it was the Doctor himself she should be the most grateful for; he’d taken her out of a bad situation and given her practically the universe in return. 

Her door opened and Davros whizzed in. “You are awake,” he surveyed her. “which regeneration are you on, Time Lord?” 

“I’m not a Time Lord,” Eva was truthful. She wanted to shift her body the way she accustomed to lying-on one side but her injured shoulder would not tolerate it. “I don’t know anything about Gallifrey.” 

“How is it you have two hearts?”

“Check me, Davros. Time Lords have two hearts in their chest. Where is my second one?” 

Davros scanned her, noticing the second heartbeat was considerably lower down. “Much lower.” 

“Yes. I assume you may have been human once or a humanoid. How do humans reproduce?” 

Davros saw the point. He had seen humanoid aliens reproduce many times when he was a Khaled and knew then Eva was telling the truth. “How is it you and the Doctor came together?” 

“That’s none of your business actually.” 

“You care about him,” the blue eye flashed. “caring is a weakness and must be extirpated.” 

“Caring is proof of someone’s great strength,” Eva shot back. “it takes a real caring person to look after another one. I travel with the Doctor because I care about him.” 

“You are as weak as he is.” 

“If you want to call it that fine,” Eva knew she wouldn’t remain conscious enough to argue her point. It seemed that Davros wasn’t the type of guy who would bend to see reason anyway. “the Doctor is a great man.” 

“The Doctor is the enemy of the Daleks and we will destroy him!” Davros was starting to get exercised. 

“All right-my head hurts too much to argue right now. Why are you this weird cyborg in a chair? What made you this way?” 

“I upgraded myself with Skaro technology and I saw the chance to create a superior race of aliens who would bend to my will!” 

“So you guys are pretty emotionless beings who are hell bent on destroy and conquer?” Eva asked. “How many friends or allies do you actually have in the universe?” 

“We have none.” 

“And why do you think that is?” she countered. “This all or nothing attitude is going to end the Dalek race one of these days. If you don’t compromise you won’t have a good legacy to leave behind.” 

“I cannot die, foolish woman.” 

“Look, my name is Eva, all right. Stop calling me woman. You’re still humanoid enough so that you will die one of these days. How do you know one of your Daleks won’t rise up against you and revolt? There’s always one in a crowd that will fight back.” Eva was testing Davros to see how well he really knew his Daleks. She shifted her right arm so her forearm was draped on her belly which helped the pain a little bit. It was probably a torn or stretched rotator cuff, she thought. 

“You are a perceptive human,” Davros had to hand it to her. “how is it possible?” 

“I’m psychic,” Eva told him. “I can read psychic or psi energy residue in this planet and I see a lot of people in distress and dying.” she’d actually been in too much pain to concentrate her energy but hopefully Davros wouldn’t know she was lying. 

The Dalek creator’s face was impassive at her remark. “There were two warring factions on Skaro many years ago and that was the catalyst for my creating the Daleks. The Doctor came in when the Daleks were hatching and interfered with my plans.” 

“He has a tendency to do that,” Eva smiled a little bit. “my question for you is why do you fear death so much?” 

“I do not fear it!” she saw a little shake and pressed on. 

“I’m not judging you, Davros. You’ve got death denial all over you. You created a race, so kudos to that, time to die and leave your legacy down to the next generation of these mutant killing machines. Or are you worried that they will discard you?”

“They will never discard me!” 

“I think the Daleks have been brainwashed so they can’t feel affection for any living creature and that’s your biggest fault,” Eva stated. “if they had an ounce of compassion in them they could have been truly noble. By making them emotionless you made little pawns to act out your egocentric narcissism. When you do die they will not mourn you. You command respect and they give it to you because you control them.” 

Davros didn’t say anything for a long moment but he got closer to Eva. “The Doctor’s compassion has infected you deeply and if you continue to care for him you will be doomed. Many people have followed the Doctor, many have died. When you die the Doctor will carry on with other people and it will be like you never existed.” 

Eva smiled. “That’s all you got?” an explosion from outside made them both look out the window. “What was that?” the power flickered and died. 

“The Doctor is invading!” Davros left the room, the big door rolling shut after him. 

Eva, we are coming for you! The Doctor’s voice sounded in her head. 

“Doctor..” Eva whispered, feeling the pain in her head get worse. Too weak to scream she winced, feeling her consciousness start ebbing away. I can’t stay awake.. she uttered a sigh, ignoring the carnage outside, letting her eyelids slip shut as the pain roared on inside her. 

The Doctor heard her in his head as he followed Anin into the outer part of the hive. Tarkin chucked a plasma grenade into the central hive, zapped some Daleks then yelled a warning, happily enjoying himself as Anin aimed his demat gun right at a window. Shooting out several windows for easier access he saw someone lying near a window. “Doctor, is that the girl?” 

“Eva!” the Doctor checked for Daleks then charged over to the window. He frantically rapped at the window, rattling it. “She looks awful. Eva, wake up!” his companion was liberally splattered with blood, he could see a wound on her thigh and dried blood down one side of her face. 

“Stand back!” Anin shot the glass, shattering it. “Tarkin, we found the girl!” he bellowed. The younger Movellan leaped forward, taking Eva and slinging her over his shoulder. 

“She’s badly hurt, you be careful with her!” the Doctor shouted as the young Movellan started moving towards the exit led by Anin. 

“Leader 1 to 2; have found the girl and are retreating!” Anin barked into his radio, covering Tarkin and the Doctor as they ran off towards the cliffs. 

It was a very organized retreat; at every chance there was a Movellan popping out from some landmark and joining them on the retreat. A few got cut down but most of them shot the Daleks with the demat guns, sending them into containment. 

Finally they reached the cliffs and began walking over to the lift. Tarkin adjusted his hold on Eva, shifting from over the shoulder to the more traditional hand under the armpit and another under the knee. The Doctor brushed Eva’s hair away from her face, seeing it sticky and bloodstained from a shallow cut on one side of her forehead. “Poor girl.” 

“She looks horrible, Doctor,” they got on board the lift. “what happened to you two that you crash landed on Skaro?” 

“I don’t know! The TARDIS suddenly went crazy and dumped us both out before we landed.” 

“I think the TARDIS might have been affected by a solar flare,” Anin theorized. “we had a few of them very recently.” 

“Yeah we had a big one yesterday. That would be enough to make your ship go a little crazy.” 

“It certainly would but for now all my concern is on Eva here.” he said as the bell sounded. 

“Fear not, Doctor, we can take good care of her. Tarkin will get her into a gown and perform an examination.” 

“Can I observe? You have some great healing technology.” they entered the medical section. Tarkin put Eva on an exam table. 

“Well sure you can.” with his assistance the Movellan put a gown on Eva, removing her bloody and torn clothing, her shoes, then putting them on a chair nearby. Tarkin put a small device on his wrist with the screen facing down, scanning Eva from head to toe with it. A monitor in the wall lit up which listed all of her symptoms. 

“Well, she definitely is pregnant still, a severe concussion, torn rotator cuff, infected thigh wound, and it looks like she has a fractured collar bone on the left side. I’ll take care of the minor things like the thigh wound and we need to operate to repair her rotator cuff and collarbone.” 

“Surgery?” 

“Yes, the sooner the better,” Tarkin donned gloves. “would you assist me in the thigh wound, Doctor?” 

“Yes I will.” he handed Tarkin the instruments, seeing quite a large quantity of exudate removed from the injury site. Movellan medical technology was far advanced, the Doctor thought, seeing Tarkin seal Eva’s injury closed after a thorough cleaning. He rubbed some salve all over the wound to keep it from getting infected again then bandaged it firmly. Eva’s head injury was tended to then it was time for surgery. 

“How do you fix her rotator cuff?” 

“Lasers,” Tarkin said simply. “The lasers don’t penetrate through the skin so I have to open up the wound and mend it that way.” 

“They work on bone too?” 

“Her collarbone needs to be set in the proper space so I won’t be using a laser for that.” Tarkin wasted no time in setting to work. The Doctor felt faintly nauseated as Tarkin cut down to the muscle layer under Eva’s skin to repair her rotator cuff and bone but stayed with his friend. 

“Was that how you mended my broken bones?”

“Exactly the same, Doctor. I set your fractures then had you spend time under this lamp. The beam goes down into the bone itself and stimulates growth so you heal much faster.” Tarkin incised the skin, working his way down to the injury site. “Her rotator cuff is almost severed through-she took a huge blow!” he aimed the laser down and started rebuilding Eva’s rotator cuff. The Doctor was stoic until about midway through the collarbone surgery when Tarkin glanced at him. 

“Doctor, you look gray in the face. Go sit down. I got this.” Tarkin began closing the wound. “There,” he adjusted the lamp, aiming it over Eva’s surgery site. “she should wake up in a few hours and be sore but otherwise fine. How about you and me go for some supper? I’m starving.” 

“No, thanks,” the Doctor felt too nauseous to think about supper now. “I’ll wait.” 

Tarkin saw the pallor on the Doctor’s face, put a hand on his shoulder briefly with a little smile. “She’ll be back up and mucking around with you before you know it, Doctor.” 

“I can appreciate the confidence but go now,” the Time Lord felt weaker than he thought. “seems I need to rest a little more to get my strength back.” 

“You’ve had a shock today,” Tarkin was sympathetic. “I’ll be back after about an hour.” the Movellan left. 

**

A few hours later Tarkin came back from supper, checking in on his patients. The Doctor was sleeping on one bed, Eva was still exactly the same. Tarkin waved a handheld device over Eva’s broken collarbone and was reassured that the bone was healing the break well. Curious about the earth woman’s current condition he took a scan of her pelvis which took a real time picture of the embryo. “Fascinating.” he said in a low voice. Eva had what looked like a tiny human nestled all cozily inside her. Movellans reproduced in the same way humans did but Tarkin was used to working on the soldiers for their armed forces group. It wasn’t every day that a Time Lord and a pregnant human turned up after solar flares. 

“Everything good in there, Tarkin?” Anin knocked on the door. 

“Shhh. Everything’s good,” Anin crossed over to peer at the device. “a rare privilege indeed, Anin. Look at what’s inside her.” 

“It’s developing well for a Titan child. She’s tolerating it extremely well-it gives her a mild boost to her energy to offset the toll it takes on her body to carry it.” 

“Do you know much about Titan embryology?” 

“I do. The woman can carry for months, sometimes years before the embryo’s ready to be removed. When it does she will have one week to get to the Titan extraction clinic and on the day it’s ready to come out she will experience mild labor pains. The pains tell her that it’s time to go to the clinic urgently to have it out.” 

“What happens if she doesn’t?” 

Anin admired Eva’s features for a moment, then he sighed and glanced at Tarkin. “Then there’s no chance. The Titan young grow very quickly and she could die from a ruptured uterus or bleed out internally.” 

The Doctor was awakened by their talking, quickly realizing that they were talking about Eva. The odds were good that she would indeed go for several months all the while maturing, feeding, protecting the embryo. It was pretty good to her; giving her entertainment by moving, never giving her cause for concern, even hibernating. The Doctor could not forget how tired and malnourished Eva had been when he’d come back for her. 

“Have there been any incidents where the volunteers suddenly get bigger? I thought I read something to that effect awhile ago.” 

“No, Tarkin. That was a piece of sensationalized media. Some muckraker press reporter started making stuff up in order to sell newspapers,” Anin said confidently. “the Titans are a lot less forgiving than others about blatantly lying to the public.” 

“What did they do then?” 

“They took the liar, proved him to be in fact a liar, and then they executed him.” 

“Executed a liar reporter?” 

“They consider lying to the public to be treason,” Anin was nonchalant. “what you do is present the situation in an unbiased manner and let the public draw their own conclusions. Lying shows you don’t care and are not a morally well grounded person. When you value money over everything else it shows you have been corrupted.” 

“No way that guy could be rehabbed?” 

“Nope. They believe you only get one chance.” 

“I think I like them then. The Doctor would.” 

“He would. They’ll be summoned there when Eva goes into a labor of sorts. Anyway, how are they doing?” 

“They’re doing great actually. Eva here will be waking up soon. The Doctor’s feeling the effects of exerting himself after injuries so he’ll be back up to speed any time.” 

“Excellent. Time to retire for the night.” 

The Doctor closed his eyes, feeling his fatigue wash through him like a tidal wave. He hadn’t seen Davros on his little excursion and was glad of it-the Dalek creator tended to take what he said and twist it into his own version which was supremely irritating. The two of them were always engaged in a mind game of sorts when they met and he was glad to have avoided it. 

**

The next day dawned brilliantly sunny and a bit humid. Tarkin came into the infirmary, ran a scan on both occupants and was happy to detect nothing wrong. The Doctor was sore from his injuries but that would pass eventually. 

“Try some of this analgesic,” Tarkin advised, giving him a jar. “just dab some of that on the painful site and it will numb it down so you can move around.” 

“Thanks. Now what about my friend?” he slid off the bed. 

“She will be waking up any second now. I won’t lie, Doctor, her head wound was pretty bad so that’s why it’s taking so long for her to rouse.” 

“It won’t cause her any issues now, right?” 

“Absolutely correct,” Tarkin had to smile as he saw the Doctor’s concern for his friend showing on his face. “her head is fine.” 

Right on cue Eva started to stir. “Daleks..” she murmured. “pain..” her eyes opened wide, “Doctor!” she exclaimed. 

“I’m right here, Eva,” the Doctor shushed his friend. “Right here and I’m not going anywhere.” 

Eva took a moment to register her surroundings. A fellow in white, a stark white room, the Doctor and she was dressed in a hospital gown. With her mind so foggy she couldn’t make much sense of the situation so she tried, “Did I go into labor already? Did I have the surgery?” 

“No. What do you remember?” 

“Temporary amnesia-it’s due to us fixing her injuries,” Tarkin informed the Doctor. “she may not be able to remember a lot right now.” 

“Makes sense. Eva if you don’t remember a lot that’s fine. The Daleks took you into their hive and we had to go in and get you out. You were pretty banged up.” 

“Right. I remember us landing but not much after that. It’s so fuzzy.” she put her head in her hands for a brief moment. The Doctor touched her arm gently. 

“That’s fine,” he told her. “you’re safe now and that’s what counts.” 

“Thank you, Doctor. Damn, I’m starving!” 

“How about breakfast at a little cafe overlooking the riviera?” the Doctor teased. “Have to change your clothes first but I think we can manage a breakfast at an upscale restaurant.” 

“Doctor, that sounds fantastic! Oh, I’m sorry,” she remembered there was another person in the room. “I’m Eva.” 

“I’m Tarkin, medical officer of the Movellan army.” 

“Movellan?” 

“Friends of mine for many years,” the Doctor quickly told her. “Tarkin, are we able to go?” 

“I don’t see why not. Eva’s fine, the embryo is healthy and we got to catch up a little bit-oh, and raid a Dalek hive,” Tarkin laughed. “all in a day’s work.” 

The Doctor and Eva thanked the Movellans for their hospitality and Eva, exchanging her gown for her clothes, went on board the TARDIS. “Did you ever figure out why the TARDIS behaved so badly towards us, causing us to suffer severe injuries?” Eva asked, pulling a loose thread off of her torn shirt. 

“There were solar flares. It happens once in awhile and it also causes the Daleks to go a little bit haywire, “ the Doctor pulled the switch. “the TARDIS doesn’t like anything hot for reasons you can understand.” 

“I don’t like it hot either-my fair skin will burn. So where are we going next?” Eva wanted to lean over the console but her sore shoulder would not allow it. The Doctor must have seen the fleeting grimace of pain on her face because he reached over and drew her closer to him. 

“The French riviera. We can get a nice brunch out there-better change your clothes and put makeup on,” he teased his friend. “can’t have you looking like you just went through a battlefield.” 

“You should change too, Doctor. Try that burgundy peacoat that you wear-it’s very upscale and says you might actually have class for once.” 

“Class?!” he mocked. “Go on and change!” 

Giggling, Eva went to her room and opened up the closet. The medium didn’t know what time of the year it would be so she went on the safe side with navy blue chino pants, her black ankle boots, a bright pink button up top under a deep red blazer. Eva gave herself a silver smoky eye look, chose a dark pink matte lipstick and she was done. 

“Can’t forget my jewelry!” she put on silver hoop earrings, a silver chain link bracelet and went out to the console room. 

“There you are!” the Doctor was wearing his usual black pants, boots, white shirt and the burgundy peacoat Eva had recommended. “Smart dresser you are!” 

“A very rare compliment!” she teased him, joining him at the console. “I expected you to tell me that I have too much makeup on and I’m now officially too tall for your taste.” 

“As long as you’re not taller than me I don’t care about that,” the Doctor adjusted the monitor. “the French riviera on a balmy autumn day in your current time.” 

“Sounds good to me.” the TARDIS materialized, the Doctor opened up the doors to reveal they were standing on the riviera itself. The Doctor flagged down a waiter and they were served in due time. 

“So what happened to me while I was out of it?” 

“You really want to talk about that now?” Eva took a drink from the waiter-a nice mimosa to help clear her brain but the Doctor took it from her. “You’re pregnant,” he reminded her. “wouldn’t be a good idea.” 

She took it back with a little smirk. “It’s not human and I was told that I don’t need to make any lifestyle changes. You don’t get to lord that one over me.” she took a sip just to irk him further. The Doctor scowled but didn’t say anything. 

“Fine. You got hurt in our landing, I was saved by the Movellans, you were abducted by the Daleks. They healed me, the Daleks tortured you-” 

“They didn’t torture me,” Eva interrupted. “I talked with the leader there.” 

“Who’s telling the story?” the Doctor grumbled. “Sounds like your memories are returning.” 

“I guess they are. Continue.” 

“I received your telepathic messages after they healed me, we mounted an attack or raid or whatever it is you humans called it, and we got you back. You were a mess; blood everywhere, nasty head wound, etc, so they healed you and had to perform some surgery to get you back together.” 

“What kind of surgery?” 

“You had a torn rotator cuff so Tarkin had to operate-cut down to the level of your injury and heal it with a laser. Your collarbone was broken as well so he operated to reset your bone and put it under a special light to heal it.” 

“Sounds interesting. How bad were you hurt, Doctor?” 

“Pretty bad-I got banged up a lot worse than you. I had multiple broken bones and a head injury.” 

“Damn. OK, now I’m ready to change the subject. I don’t want to think of either one of us hurt or suffering in any way. I did have an interesting conversation with Davros.” 

“What kind of conversation?” 

“Just the merits of caring versus indoctrination,” Eva said carelessly. “I think I got under his skin a bit by implying that good leaders are ones who do noble selfless deeds versus mindless drones who just do as one person says.” 

The Doctor gazed at Eva as she smiled at him, putting her glass down. “What would you say if I told you there was a good Dalek?” 

“I’d say my little advice to Davros was true. I told him that there was always a chance of an uprising.” 

“Too true.,” he agreed as they finished brunch. “so, where else do you want to go today?” they paid for brunch, the Doctor offered Eva his arm which she accepted. They spent several minutes walking near the water while Eva mulled over the possibilities. 

“You know, I don’t know at all. I don’t have a particular destination in mind.” they stepped back into the TARDIS. 

“Hang on, I’ve got a message here,” the Doctor accessed the TARDIS’s voice message system. “let’s see!” 

“This message is for the Doctor. Doctor, this is Kate Stewart with UNIT and we need your help...” 

“What’s UNIT?” Eva asked. 

“Time to go!” the Doctor set the TARDIS for New Year’s Eve day 2021..


	12. New Year's Eve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “There is a strange mist developing in graveyards on earth and people are starting to disappear but are replaced by dead people. Now I know that it’s a telltale sign that the Nethersphere is falling out of its gravitational orbit and will collide with earth.”

New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Eve day dawned bitterly cold and snowy, a miserable looking day when the TARDIS turned up in a cemetery. “Exactly why did you want to come here of all places?” the Doctor asked as Eva got out, sliding her phone into her leather jacket. 

“I wanted to visit someone,” she said simply. “my childhood friend and later boyfriend, Charles Taylor. He meant a lot to me and then he went and burned to death in a house fire. It was five years ago today.” Eva put a red carnation on the grave, staring with downcast eyes at a gray granite stone, silently reliving the memories of the times they had together. 

“Does he talk to you from the other side?” the Doctor asked, feeling a bit awkward. 

“Sometimes.” Eva brushed the side of the stone with her fingertips to see if Charles was around in spirit and if he wanted to talk. Nothing came to her so she stood up and walked over to the Doctor. In the gray light Eva looked a little bit washed out and the Doctor found himself thinking about ways to try to help her. 

“You know, there’s a place called the Nethersphere we could visit sometime if you want to visit him.” 

“A Nethersphere? Populated by dead people?” 

“It’s a bit more complicated than that but yes,” the Doctor told her. “we have someplace to be.” 

“Right. Thanks for letting me have this moment at least.” Eva’s phone buzzed. “God, it’s Mark again! That gutless loser won’t take a hint!” 

“Who’s Mark?” 

“A guy I dated a few times then told him he was friendzoned,” they got back into the TARDIS. “I don’t want a relationship with a gutless insecure boy!” 

The Doctor said nothing, moving the TARDIS to where Kate had instructed them to go. “I hope you don’t mind an encounter with the president of the world!” she would find the humor in that later. Eva shoved her phone back in her pocket then held on tight. A minute later the Doctor checked the monitor which showed nothing around. “They have a nasty habit of sedating people then taking them to the base-they don’t want anyone to know where the base is.” 

“Nothing stays secret for long here.” Eva grumbled as they walked out of the TARDIS. 

“Thank you for meeting me here, Doctor,” Kate came into view. “is this your new assistant?” 

“It is. This is Eva Jane Barnes, nurse, medium.” the Doctor answered carelessly, walking into the dark hanger. 

“Hi.” Eva said hesitantly, not knowing what to think. 

“Got to stick to protocol, I’m afraid,” Kate motioned to two guards who moved forward, ramming syringes into the Doctor and Eva’s necks. “can’t have our secrets out.” Eva reacted first, her eyes rolling up and falling down. 

“Bring them to the office headquarters.” Kate directed, turning on her heel and disappearing. 

One hour later after transporting the Doctor, Eva, and the TARDIS, the Doctor’s identity was verified so the medical officer gave him another shot which caused him to wake up. “Must we always go through this when we meet?” he rubbed his neck where they injected him. “Where’s my friend?”

“Good morning, Doctor,” Kate greeted him. “this way please.” 

“Where’s Eva?” 

“She’ll be with you in a few minutes, Doctor. We’ve had a little trouble verifying her identity. Computer glitches,” Kate sat across from the Doctor in the conference room. “now onto the main issue here,” she pressed a few keys on a laptop and an image sprang up on the projector. “for the past day and a half we have been tracking disturbances around the general London area. The disturbances started out small and seem like things in a movie; things being moved around, seeing dead people walking around but what we’re seeing now is a massive spike in a supernatural or alien energy which is bringing dead people back to life.” 

“Dead people back to life? Could be an alien species masquerading as dead people in order to divide and conquer! Have you forgotten the Cybermen?” 

“It’s not the Cybermen,” Kate dismissed. “the energy is definitely alien to us and people are seeing the dead rising from their graves.” 

“Better call the Ghostbusters then! Anyone know what the supposed dead people say?” 

“Nobody around here’s a psychic, Doctor.” 

“Eva is! Wake her up so I can show you it’s not what you think it is!” he folded his arms and sat back in his chair. “I’ve got all eternity to wait but do you?” 

Disgusted, Kate reached for the phone. “Wake up the girl and bring her in.” Eva appeared a few minutes later, sitting beside the Doctor, looking a bit disheveled but not worse for wear. 

“Apparently an alien force is bringing up the dead people, Eva.” 

“We’ve seen this before on the planet of the dead,” she told him. “two aliens out to bag dead people’s spirits, bottle them and sell them on the black market.” 

“Well, someone’s a little more astute,” Kate shot the Doctor a little glare. “what kind of technology was it?” 

“A psi energy concentrator.” 

“No, I don’t think it’s that at all,” the Doctor interrupted, his mind buzzing. “Eva, I think we need to make a trip to the other side and see what this is all about.” 

“What?”

“The Nethersphere, girl! If we go over there we’ll be able to figure this out a little more thoroughly!” 

“Doctor, there’s a weird storm brewing in the cemeteries!” Kate interjected. “They’re all covered in this dark blue mist and it keeps getting stronger by the day!” 

“Well, why didn’t you say so?!” the Doctor browsed the photos on the tablet. “Now it’s starting to get a bit interesting. A mist that’s blue? I think that something’s trying to come through,” Eva was intrigued. “don’t let anyone go through the mist or they might disappear for good.” 

“Eva, it’s time to take a TARDIS trip into the Nethersphere so we can get to the bottom of this.” the Doctor stood up, Eva did the same. 

“Keep us informed, Doctor.” the Doctor gave Kate a stare for a moment then left the room, Eva gave Kate a look of pity but sailed after the Doctor.   
**

Inside the TARDIS the Doctor input the coordinates for the Nethersphere while Eva checked her phone again. Mark had texted, begging her to make them a couple again but she texted, nag me about that again and I will fucking block you. The Doctor looked up to see Eva shove her phone in her pocket, sigh, then grab a hold of the railing near her. He threw the switch, held on tight then the TARDIS took them to the Nethersphere. 

“Brace yourself,” they had landed down in 3Ws facility. “things may be a bit shocking here.” 

“Right.” the Doctor led the way down the hallway followed by his friend. He saw the place had been overhauled since the Cybermen disaster-the dark water tanks had been replaced brass placards with names and dates with codes next to each. The placards covered the walls; a ladder stood nearby within reach so the top level could be accessed. Eva appraised the corridor, looking at the polished marble floor and dark mahogany pillars. It looked like a Roman colosseum than any kind of mortuary of mausoleum. The Doctor examined a few placards, reading some flowery inscriptions but did not say another word. Eva’s boots clicked on down the corridor, her mind gaining first impressions of the environment.

“So what do you think, Eva?” the Doctor sang out. 

“I don’t know what to think, Doctor. What sort of place is this?” 

The Nethersphere lurched, knocking Eva off her feet, sending her right into the opposite wall. She managed to spin around and avoid hitting her head, jamming her feet into the pillar. The Doctor did not offer her a hand up as he had his sunglasses out and scanning the place. “Everyone here has a QR code; I imagine that you could access their obituary with it. How about you find your friend?” 

Eva stood up, surveying the wall. “Is it organized by date of death or alphabetical?” 

“Date of death. Five years ago would put it here,” the Doctor used his sunglasses to scan a random code and found the obituary online. “that’s it? You could do this on earth easily.” 

“Um, Doctor, what’s that?” the Doctor spun around to see a door with a wifi enabled lock and QR code scanner set into it. He took out his phone, scanned a random person, then went over to the door. Eva observed him scanning the code into it, the readout blinked and clicked PROCESSING. When the light turned blue the room lit up for a full 30 seconds then Eva and the Doctor were both shocked to see a person looking back at them. 

“Hello?” the person asked. Eva drew back in bewilderment, the Doctor had his hand on her shoulder, steering her away. 

“What in the name of all that’s holy-” Eva tried to open the door but saw the readout flash PLEASE INSERT DIGITAL PASS CODE. “so they’ve branched out into being able to see your dead loved one?! This is sick, Doctor!” 

The Doctor didn’t look like he wanted to agree. He was stunned into silence-a first at any rate, Eva thought. She was about to say something else when he grasped her arm. “Eva, talk to her.” 

“I can’t get in there!” 

“Use your mind!” the Doctor barked, catching her off guard. 

“Fine!” Eva made eye contact and thought, who are you? The person gave no notice that they heard Eva’s thought and even though she tried several times the person didn’t do a thing. 

“Well?!” why was the Doctor so anxious? Eva sighed. 

“I can’t get a connection with her, Doctor.” 

“Of course! They must have taken to scanning the dead person to create a likeness and have it accessible to family members.” the Doctor’s blue eyes lit up. 

“This is the Nethersphere, Doctor, why would anyone be doing that?” they started walking down the hall again. 

“Because it’s the Nethersphere, Eva. We need to see the owner.” as physically fit as she was, Eva found it hard to match the Doctor’s stride when he was in a mood. They looked through several doors and finally found the right one which was labeled ARGO. The Doctor burst right in, interrupting Argo’s phone conference call, walking over and pressing the hangup button. 

“You are the proprietor of 3W?”

Argo was a short fat man who glared up at the Doctor as he put the phone aside. “I am Mr. Argo.” 

“Appropriate,” the Doctor sat down at the only chair in the room. Eva huffed in irritation as she stood by the door. “to name yourself after a vessel, ergo Argo, the ship that conveyed the mythical Jason through the Bosporus. You envision yourself a revolutionary?” 

“Clearly. I imagine you saw my little project out there? QR codes and an algorithmic hologram of our dead clientele? And by the way, who the devil are you?” 

“I’m the Doctor.” 

“I’m the assistant in case anyone’s wondering!” Eva fluttered a hand to get attention. 

“Quiet, Eva,” the Doctor glared at Argo. “you need to get your sphere under control, Argo.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“There is a strange mist developing in graveyards on earth and people are starting to disappear but are replaced by dead people. Now I know that it’s a telltale sign that the Nethersphere is falling out of its gravitational orbit and will collide with earth.” 

It was a good thing Eva was used to the Doctor’s abrupt way of talking and his habit of saying sensational things like they were everyday occurrences. She was facing away from the two at the desk when she heard the Doctor say the Nethersphere was falling to earth and her jaw dropped open. They hadn’t verified that the sphere was falling and it occurred to her that the Doctor was trying to incriminate Argo. 

“Doctor, I haven’t the faintest notion on what you’re talking about.” the Doctor’s eyes narrowed but he could see that Argo really didn’t understand. The businessman stood up followed by the Doctor and they walked out into the hallway. “It appears to me that you’re interested in this facility so how about a tour?” 

“Yes,” the Doctor accepted but Eva declined. “are you mad, girl? We need to look around.” 

“Doctor, you’ve been here before and to be quite frank this place disturbs me to no end.” he could see she was quite uncomfortable and was about to ask why when Argo stepped in. 

“Why would that be?” he said with a sugary smile. 

“Because of the false hope you give consumers! These loved one visits are hubris and you know it! A holographic projection is no substitute for the real person,” she sighed. “what’s bothering me is really the fact that you think you’re protecting and preserving dead people but you’re just the bait and switch!” 

“And who do you think you are for thinking that?” Argo leered as the Doctor walked behind Eva. 

“I know that I am a-” the Doctor yanked on Eva’s hand, mentally telling her not to let on to the fact she was psychic. “concerned consumer-I hope that you don’t do anything to me when I die.” 

“You do not wish to be preserved?”

“No. I already have plans for when I die,” the Doctor’s eyebrows shot up but he tried not to betray how he felt. “I think you’re deceiving people and the loved ones that are alive. How is that? Well, they won’t be able to cope with their grief and learn how to move on if they visit these cruel holographic images.” Eva folded her arms and leaned against a pillar. The hologram room they’d seen earlier was now vacant; a blinking red light flashed at the door. 

“Everyone grieves differently. I appreciate the fact you’re so concerned over the ones left behind.” Argo quickly tried to pacify her with a simpering smile. The Doctor had been thinking among the same lines as Eva but he was glad she’d said something so he could remain objective. She did have a valid point; pointing out to the Doctor that she wasn’t able to pick up on any spirits so they both sensed something was definitely wrong. Spirits should have been lining up to get a word in with Eva and yet they weren’t. 

A warning bell went off in the Doctor’s mind-he sensed Argo was already keenly interested in Eva and might have evil intentions towards her. He tugged Eva’s hand back so she moved back a few steps so he could step in. “What do you know about spirits and death?” 

“The soul or spirit stays conscious in the body after death. They can still hear, think, feel.” 

“No, they can’t,” the Doctor dismissed him. “within minutes after death the brain shuts down so they can’t do anything anymore. The hair and fingernails don’t keep growing, their skin shrinks down so they’re definitely dead! In order for consciousness to be maintained you have to be alive! You can’t feel because your brain has shut off and your heart has stopped!” 

Eva’s mind was wandering aimlessly when a sudden flash hit her mind. Her old friend Charles was smiling down at her from his six foot frame, red hair and black square glasses filling her vision like they used to. Keeping her face neutral she received a message from Charles then he vanished. Was it true? Did they really intend to do it? She had to tell the Doctor quickly! 

The Doctor was still rambling on with Argo so she had to make a scene and draw him away from the Nethersphere. But how to do it? 

“Doctor, we need to head back to the TARDIS.” she approached him from behind, discarding all pretenses. 

“Not now, Eva.” 

“Oh yes now,” she grabbed his hand like he’d done to her and jerked it towards her. “now! Quickly!” 

“What the hell is wrong with you, girl? Are you possessed?” he turned to face her, flabbergasted by her attitude. Argo looked confused as well but Eva kept her eyes focused on the Doctor. The medium wrenched his hand, pulling him away. 

“Yes!” she hightailed it back to the TARDIS, slammed the doors, then turned to him. “We’ve got a HUGE problem!” 

“What?!” his old snappy tone of voice was evident as Eva pulled the switch. 

“The earth is about to become the new Nethersphere!” she told him urgently. The Doctor’s features grew sharper in realization, his eyes narrowed as the message sunk in. 

**

“How do you know?” he input coordinates in for earth and UNIT. “Did you have a vision?” 

Eva sank down in a chair, reliving the vision. “Yes and it was from Charles. He’s warning me.” 

“Has he ever done that before?” 

“He appeared to me once before to help me through grieving for him and that’s it. I..” her voice choked up a little bit which annoyed her. “that’s all the proof I’ll ever need, Doctor-my visions tell me there’s life or at least love after death! Not some commercialized high tech FAKE preservation techniques by a fraud!” 

The Doctor looked astounded at her vehemence. “Eva, what’s brought this on?” he yanked the dematerialization switch and the TARDIS whirred to life. 

“I’m a nurse, Doctor! But I’m also the member of a secret society that-”

“I forgot; the Trinity society.” 

“Doctor-you really were snooping out my HQ that night!” Eva’s eyes flashed at him. “I stand for respecting the dead, helping people through their grief, helping out the less fortunate so a loved one can have a decent service! I repair stones as well so when someone comes along and tells me that there’s a way someone can still talk to a dead loved one I kinda hit the fucking roof! And it’s all for nothing!” 

Eva’s hands were shaking in her rage which was impressive. She was usually very self contained at all times so to see her that worked up was very rare. At that moment the Doctor’s respect for Eva shot up a few more points. She was passionate about the whole affair which would serve to help him out later on if he needed it-when he needed it, he had to amend. 

“The next Nethersphere-it makes sense why there’s a mist forming. The most recently deceased are coming back to the earth and more ones are coming through. But they’re not really true spirits; just holograms. Did your friend tell you when it would officially become a Nethersphere?” 

“On the new year as soon as that clock hits 12 midnight,” Eva shook her head. “it’s cliché.” 

“Yes but that’s what we like!” the TARDIS landed. The Doctor threw open the doors and shouted, “Take me to Kate!” 

In the conference room Kate Stewart looked at the portrait of her father and sighed. The Doctor was an extremely eccentric character and while she didn’t think much of him or his new assistant, she had to admit he’d earned a lot of respect through the years. The Brigadier had kept the Doctor’s old car Bessie after he’d departed UNIT and used to drive it to a boys’ school to teach math classes. Kate remembered learning how to drive a standard on Bessie until the old car finally had it and stopped working. The Brigadier didn’t want to sell the car but he was not willing to invest more money it; it needed a full restoration by that point. It was heartbreaking to see the old car get towed off, the last remnant of the Doctor for the Brigadier. 

“Hello, Kate!” the Doctor blustered as he and Eva came into the room, making her jump. 

“Oh Doctor, I was just thinking about something I know you’d remember.” Kate went to her desk and pulled out a miniature of Bessie, complete with bright yellow paint. 

“What’s that?” 

“Bessie.” 

“Do you still have her?” he paused, taking the miniature and turning it in his hands. A little smile crossed his face. Eva saw the model and smiled as well; she liked nifty retro cars. 

“No, my dad had to sell her a long time ago. I learned how to drive on it. She fell to pieces and it wasn’t worth fixing.” 

“She was a great car to drive.” the Doctor passed the model back to her, his hand giving it a little caress. 

“Thank you, Doctor. Now, what news have you?” 

“I have it on good authority that the earth is going to be turned into a new Nethersphere,” the Doctor quickly explained what that meant. “by midnight tonight.” 

“But the Nethersphere is a separate construct of earth except dead people well, live there. Where are the living going to go if we have to compete with dead people now?” 

“I’ll imagine that doesn’t matter once they’ve broken through. They mean to overtake the living in everything you do and kill you all.” 

“So how do we stop them? There are already reports of people being attacked by these ghosts.” 

“They’re not ghosts-they’re holographic images,” the Doctor explained. “a hologram works by two lasers off angled mirrors so we need some hammers.” 

“And it’s hoped by smashing mirrors we can prevent an invasion?” Kate sounded skeptical.

“We can prevent stage one of the invasion then I can get back in the TARDIS and move the Nethersphere into a different galaxy.” the Doctor was already thinking about harnessing a meteor to hit the Nethersphere and knock it off course or lead it into a black hole. 

“How many cemeteries are affected, Kate?” Eva piped up. 

“About 15 so far,” Kate showed them images. “all the images are being shown at the oldest part of each cemetery. Doctor, I am not sure you can reach all 15 and smash the mirrors-some of them are four hours away.” 

“A jaunt in the TARDIS-” 

“No, just leave that to me,” Eva took a picture of the list of cemeteries affected and forwarded it to her friend. “I’m part of the Trinity society and I have friends all over the place. They’re near the cemeteries and we know them all well,” she called her friend. “Hi, Miranda? I have a job for all of us to do...” 

**

The Trinity society members were forwarded all the information with Kate’s permission and all set out to the cemetery nearest them armed with hammers. As the Doctor pondered over the best way to move the Nethersphere out of the earth’s way Kate asked Eva how she was affiliated with the Trinity society. 

“One of my nursing pals was involved and sponsored me for membership. We believe quite strongly in looking after our dead,” Eva told her. “after my friend died 5 years ago I joined up and now I adopted his grave and look after it. His family’s gone unfortunately.” 

“I’m sorry,” Kate said quietly. “it was hard after my father died. Once he was gone that bastion of support had left a big gaping hole that nobody can fill.” 

“Very true. I’d be happy if the Nethersphere never existed.” Eva folded her arms, reflecting that many people were doubtlessly going through their lives without properly coping with their sense of grief and loss. She’d grieved hard for the loss of her friend Charles, got some counseling and was a better person for it. There was hope for her that she’d see him again on the other side and Eva knew in her heart that she absolutely would. The Nethersphere negated all of that and promised some holographic images which would say the most random platitudes to grieving families. It was a culture of denial which Eva was inwardly railing against. 

The Doctor, puzzling over the whiteboard paused. What if it didn’t really exist and was trying to peek through an alternate dimension? He would have to go out to one of those cemeteries and scan with the sonic devices to make sure he was right. It made a lot of sense suddenly; if a planet was going to collide with earth there would have been mass hysteria and panic and there wasn’t any. The word sphere in Nethersphere was confusing-he thought they had been a planet. 

Then it made complete sense; it was an alternate dimension! When he’d left the 3W’s office they’d been in St Paul’s cathedral. The dimension was split in St Paul’s; he’d remembered noticing it at the time. So if he went to St Paul’s and checked for signs of another dimension trying to come through he would be able to seal it off with a supercharged sonic device. The Doctor had enough parts in the TARDIS to build a supersonic interdimensional collider, he was sure. 

“The Nethersphere doesn’t exist! It’s in an alternate dimension!” the Doctor exclaimed. “You brilliant girl, Eva! Kate, I need your equipment room so I can save the world!” 

“All right, I’ll go smash some mirrors,” Eva winked. “he’s like a dog hot on the trail.” 

“Isn’t he?” Kate giggled. Eva borrowed a five pound sledge from the equipment room, told the Doctor she would be out smashing mirrors in two cemeteries and left in a cab. 

**

At the first cemetery Eva boldly walked up to the mirror, swung the sledgehammer and destroyed the first one with a yell of sheer delight. The Doctor had often accused her of having a little too much fun in her work and now if he could see her he’d be shaking his head. She destroyed the other mirror with a theatrical flourish, turned and walked back to the cemetery gates with a smile on her face and a bounce in her step. The hologram wasn’t even anything special-someone shuffling around with a cold dead look which was enough to keep some human beings away but not all of them. 

The second cemetery was more complicated to figure out. It was much older and bigger than the first and the hologram was hard to find. Kate had said they were in much older sections; Eva knew the old section of the cemetery very well and didn’t find anything. 

“That is funky. Where is it?” she muttered, walking among the rows. 

“Looking for something?” a familiar voice called, holding up a reflective shard. “I’m afraid I already beat you to the punch my dear.” 

“Argo! What do you want?” 

He brandished a 9 millimeter handgun at her. “To come with me so we can stop the Doctor.” 

“You think I’m going to help you? I know this cemetery well and you’ll be lost in a second.” she threatened, ducking down behind a stone while Argo fired, chipping some of the stone off. Eva tried dodging stones but the businessman was actually a good shot; he clipped her shoulder, making her yelp in pain as a little blood began to run down. 

“Do you really want to put the Doctor’s life in danger?” he countered mildly. “I give you five seconds to comply or I will waste you both.” 

“Fine,” Eva grumbled, walking over to him. “I don’t intend to shuffle off my mortal coil anytime soon so if I can buy the Doctor any time I will!” Argo handcuffed Eva, shoved her in the back of a car, then began to drive to St. Paul’s. 

Thankfully Argo had handcuffed Eva’s hands in front of her so she was able to slide down in the backseat, pull out her phone and text the Doctor, I’m captured, Doctor. Better hurry up and seal off the gateway. She clicked send, slid her phone into her pocket and resumed looking disgruntled. A text sprung up on her smartwatch but it was from Mark so she didn’t bother to answer it. Mark was an emotional vampire, sapping her of her strength and happiness and her mind was just about made up that she did not want to continue even being friends anymore. 

At St. Paul’s the Doctor located the interdimensional tear where the Nethersphere was starting to come through and focused his new sonic collider on the target, firing off a barrage of sonic particles to seal it off. The collider was rather bulky and ungainly, looking more like a bazooka than anything else. It took some time to seal it off completely but the Doctor managed to finish the job, wiping the sweat off his brow. 

Taking out his phone he saw Eva had texted him, telling him she’d been captured. Through the telepathic link he could see Eva was somewhere nearby but he couldn’t pinpoint where it was exactly. 

“It appears you’ve cut off my escape route, Doctor,” Argo stood in the doorway with his hands behind his back. “if you open it back up I’ll give you back your friend.” 

“No deals. Where did she go?” 

“I don’t believe you’re in a position to bargain, Doctor.” 

“No, but you are if you want to go home. I can take you home but I need my friend to do it.” 

To his surprise, Argo capitulated, saying, “Here’s your friend, Doctor,” he pulled Eva in front of him, putting the gun to her neck. The Doctor’s eyes widened as he saw his friend with blood slowly running down one shoulder but at least she was still alive. “safe and sound. Now it’s time to take me back to my dimension.” 

“Fine, just let her come to me and don’t try any funny stuff. Don’t even think of bringing that weapon onto my TARDIS!” the Doctor growled. 

“Sorry, no. I won’t have any insurance in case you decide to betray me.” Eva knew a standoff was pointless and even though the Doctor loved to haggle and bluff his way into an agreement it would take too long for her liking. A sardonic little smile came onto her face when nobody was looking; forming an idea in her brain. She had to be a convincing actress so she put her hand to her pelvis, winced, then pretended to pass out, hitting the floor with a nice loud thump. 

It took a minute for the Doctor to notice his friend’s fall. “Eva!” 

“Well dear me, she doesn’t seem to have a lot of fortitude, does she?” Argo clicked the hammer back on the gun. Hearing that, Eva lashed out, aiming an upwards kick to his hand, knocking the gun from his hand. The medium recoiled, drawing her leg back and giving him a big kick right in the crotch so he fell like a ton of bricks. She dodged Argo’s falling body, making a dive for the gun, picking it up and aiming it at him. 

“I have to have a lot of fortitude if I travel with him!” she nodded towards the Doctor. “Hands where I can see them!” 

Officially beaten, Argo had no choice but to surrender. Eva stood up, walking over to the Doctor, iron hard determination in her eyes. 

“Let’s get him into the TARDIS,” the Doctor reached for Eva’s handcuffs, buzzing them with the sonic screwdriver. The metal links fell open onto the floor, he picked them up then put them on Argo. 

“Doctor-” Kate cut herself off when she saw the Doctor. “I’ll grab a medic!” 

“No, it’s all right,” the Doctor stopped her. “Eva’s fine.” the medium gave him a frustrated look which he did not see. 

“Thank you for your help, Doctor.” Kate told him cordially, walking him out to the TARDIS with Argo in tow. The Doctor gave her a nod, entering the TARDIS and steering Eva to a chair while the unwelcome guest hovered around. 

“Stay where I can see you.” the Doctor cautioned in a low voice. 

Thankfully the errand to drop Argo off was quick so Eva and the Doctor could relax again. The Doctor was fiddling with the console, Eva was sitting up on the catwalk in the Doctor’s recliner when she gazed up from the book she was reading and saw her friend Charles. 

I’m so proud of you, old friend Charles told her. Keep up the good work. I’ll always love you. He reached over and touched the side of her face then kissed her cheek. A cold breeze touched that part of her face, making her smile. A tear escaped one eye before she could stop it. 

I guess I’m never completely done grieving. She thought. I miss you, Charles. 

I’m always with you, sweetie. Charles started to fade away, leaving Eva blinking back tears. I’ll always be there for you no matter what. 

“Are you going all gooey on me again?” the Doctor called, making Eva jump. “What are you upset about now?!”

“For such an old man you’ve got great eyesight,” Eva shot back. “if you must know I saw my dead friend and he gave me some advice.” 

“How about a stop in at the New Year’s Eve party in New York and see what’s going on?” he suggested, closing the panel on the column. “First why don’t we bandage that wound you got. How did you do it anyway?” 

“I forgot about it already! Well, Doctor,” Eva went down the stairs and over to him as he pulled out a first aid box. “he was a better shot than I thought.” 

“You do get a bit reckless sometimes,” he made her take off her jacket and blazer. “you’ve wrecked two items of clothing; hope you can live with that.” he cleaned and bandaged her wound. “Hope you know how to sew.” 

“Of course I do. First, a New Year’s party. Black tie dress?” 

“Oh you actually wear dresses?” the Doctor cleaned up the rubbish and threw it away. Eva hopped off the chair and gave him a saucy smile. 

“Well Doctor, are you asking me out on a date on New Year’s Eve?” she teased. 

“Yes,” his declaration was completely serious, his face told her that right away. “why not?” 

“You’re serious?” 

“I am, girl! You better go and change before I change my mind!” 

“Get some formal wear on then. I’ll take this makeup up a notch.” Eva disappeared into her room, still in disbelief. The medium tore her wardrobe apart, finding a black and gold brocade evening gown ready for her. She hastily put it on, admiring the flattering figure it gave her, then put on a pair of kitten heeled pumps. Eva took the wrap off the hanger, draped it around her shoulders, then slid her cell phone in the dress’s pocket. She parted her hair and used rhinestone barrettes and earrings but she didn’t have a necklace to compliment her outfit. 

Adding a little more color to her eye makeup, swapping out her pink lipstick for dark red, Eva stood up and went out to the console room. The brocade part of her dress was on the corset so it definitely felt heavy; the skirt was floor length in more of an opera gown style. She was going to be tripping all evening unless she did something about it. Eva took an old fashioned skirt clip out of her pocket, clipped it down low so she could put her arm in the ribbon and lift up the skirt without reaching like Victorians did. 

The Doctor came up behind her, looking a little punch drunk at her transformation. He was wearing a formal tux for the occasion which caused Eva to shoot him a double take. “What?” he set the TARDIS coordinates and they were off. 

“You clean up real well, Doctor.” naturally she did not expect a compliment from him and he seemed a little dazed by Eva. He clearly didn’t know what to say so she did not press it. When they arrived at their destination, Eva accepted his arm and they went out to a black tie event at a penthouse in Manhattan overlooking Times Square. 

They passed a fun evening; Eva dancing with several men, the Doctor actually making small talk and being nice to people for a change. The pair watched the ball drop together, cheering when the giant TV screens read HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

“Doctor, this was wonderful,” they went back to the TARDIS where Eva sat down in a chair. Her feet were screaming so she took her heels off. “it was almost the New Year’s party of my dreams.” 

“Almost?” he flipped up a couple of switches and pressed a few keys. 

“Well, it’s silly but I always fantasized about getting a New Year’s kiss at midnight. Silly like I said. I’m going to head to bed so goodnight, Doctor.” 

Something about Eva… the Doctor thought with a little grin. She had told him women wore red lipstick in order to make their teeth look whiter but the Doctor found himself staring at her irresistibly when she wore it. It was like kryptonite when he saw her wearing that color and he found himself fantasizing about her lips. Eva rarely wore red; she liked pink better but she always experimented on mixing colors. 

“Eva, you’ll never know what you do to me..” he mumbled, an image of him kissing her filled his mind. Hopefully she was asleep now so he could sneak into her room. 

She was indeed sleeping quietly when the Doctor entered her room. The brocade dress was hung up in one corner of the wardrobe, the faint glitter shining in the low light. Sneaking right over to her side he sat down on the edge of the bed like he did when she was sick or hurt. Studying her in the faint light the Doctor gathered up his courage and leaning forward, pressed his lips to hers boldly. The Doctor enjoyed the moment even if Eva wouldn’t remember it in the morning. She had great lips-just the right amount of full for his preferences. 

It was a long moment for him but it lasted only about 20 seconds entirely. When he drew back, Eva’s face was unchanged. Maybe sometime in the future he’d ease up enough to actually kiss her when she was awake. 

“Eva, I’ve not felt like this for awhile-since my wife died,” he whispered to her still form. “you’ll find out about her at some point.” with that he got up and left the room, changing his attire. The Doctor reappeared a few minutes later, prepared to camp out on her lounger like he usually did. It didn’t take him long to fall asleep either; submitting to wild dreams. 

“Doctor,” Eva whispered, waking up a little bit. She’d had a funny dream but all thoughts of that were erased from her mind when she saw her friend lying in her lounger sound asleep. “why would you do that?” she knew the Doctor was fond of her but not fond to the point where they actually slept in the same room. The TARDIS told her that the Doctor always spent nights in her room but as to why nobody knew. “it must be love.” she decided, going back to sleep. 

**

The next morning the Doctor woke up first like he’d always did, went out of her room then tidied up for the day. Eva got up about an hour later, got ready for her day, had breakfast, wandering into the console room, her mind still on the dream. 

“Hey, sleepyhead!” the Doctor teased, flipping up a toggle switch. “You slept in rather late even for you.” 

“That’s new year’s for ya. A late night and a crazy dream to boot. I can’t get my head around it.” wearing her usual jeans, sneakers, red t-shirt and orange button up shirt, the Doctor could see Eva’s eye area had been colored in a muted orange and she had orange red lipstick on. 

“What kind of dream?” he had a feeling he already knew. 

“Well, someone kissed me. It was so kind and loving; I wish it had been real. I’ve never been kissed like that in my life.” 

“What do you think it means?” the Doctor was nonchalant but on the inside he was pleased that she’d noticed the kiss through her sleep. 

Eva smiled and looked up at her friend, making him wonder if she knew it was him. “That someone loves me, Doctor. A secret admirer if you will. I wish I knew who it was.” 

“You might,” Eva went to the other side of the console, looking in the monitor of planet icons. The Doctor smiled covertly, feeling a little flush of color rise up to his cheeks. That hadn’t happened since River, he thought. “someday.” 

“You never know.” Eva dismissed the subject, feeling a little shy in front of the Doctor for no reason.


	13. Valentine's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Eva!” the Doctor saw Eva’s eyes roll back and she fainted. Grabbing the sonic screwdriver he scanned the medium, lying her in a comfortable position on the bed. “Her life signs are astronomically through the roof!” he noted. Time Lord endurance was much higher so he made a note to himself to tell Eva to let him know when it became too much.

Valentine’s Day

“All right Doctor, you know what to do,” Eva’s voice drifted from the sickbay. “I need you to move over slightly so I can get at that. Hold still, would you? You’re worse than a 2-year-old!” 

“It wasn’t my fault that the guard was trigger happy! Ow!” the Doctor cringed as Eva came at him with a needle and thread. “Watch where you’re going with that, girl!” 

“Not your fault? OK, whose fault was it to get that close to the queen of Vakis 4 and start insulting her modesty in front of her husband? He reacted like I expected him to. The mouth runs away with you a lot. Next time if you want to get under someone’s skin try a more conventional approach, all right?” Eva turned away for a moment to grab a swab. 

The Doctor was lying on the bed, his pants down one side revealing a bare white thigh with a two inch long gaping wound in it. With his cheeks a little red he glared at Eva as she continued to stitch up his wound. “Make it quick!” 

“Doctor, please. If I’m quick I won’t do a good job. Just hold still.” privately Eva thought he had great things even if they were a little flabby looking. Maybe I’ll start calling him Jiggles in private, she smirked, expertly suturing his wound. The guard had intentionally gotten too close for comfort and it was a near miss, a three inch long cut, but it also told them the guard wasn’t messing around. If the Doctor had gotten any closer the guard would have severed an artery. 

He obliged, trying not to think about how Eva was dangerously close to his nether region. She was a nurse and a good one so chances were she wasn’t thinking of him among those lines. The medium stitched carefully, tied it off, then bandaged his injury. Eva watched him furiously yank up his pants, fastening the belt even though there was a hole the pants now. She bit her lip, trying not to smile at the memory of how the Doctor had fallen in a very indecent position. 

“What?!” he snapped at her. 

“Nothing-go on then. I’m done with you.” the medium managed a convincing expression of sympathy for the Doctor then went into the kitchen to get her supper going. 

Later on that night Eva was stretched out on the couch in the library, going through a volume of Mark Twain when the memory came back to her and she started giggling. The Doctor did not come to investigate so Eva put away the volume of Twain, picked up her phone and remembered the Doctor liked tentacle porn so she pulled up her phone and started flipping through her bookmarks. 

“Wow! Damn I wish I got penetrated like that.” Eva watched a few videos getting faintly aroused by them. The TARDIS seemed to take note of what was going on with her, along with the fact that Valentine’s day was right around the corner. 

The Doctor, coming back from the kitchen where he’d had his supper, noticed Eva lying on the library sofa with her phone in her hand. She was watching something on her phone which the Doctor recognized as the tentacle porn he’d become fond of. Eva’s button up shirt had become unbuttoned; her slender belly was clearly visible but her chest was still fully concealed. Obviously she was having some kind of quiet time and the Doctor chose to leave it at that. 

Whenever he had sexual thoughts about Eva a mental image of his wife would come up to him and he’d stop his thought pattern. The Doctor sprawled out on his bed, trying to tell himself to put the past in the past. River was gone now, she was no more, and he could start a relationship with someone if he wanted to. He was trying to sell himself on starting a relationship with Eva but he lacked courage to do something about it. The Doctor knew that Eva would not turn him down but he didn’t know where to go with it if she said yes. 

“Got to overcome this block!” he grunted. Nardole would take him to task over the missing of River and probably discourage him from seeking another woman-he hadn’t even known he’d wanted another woman until Eva had come along! That was the most frustrating part. River was part Time Lord though she was very much like him, almost too much like him on some points. Eva knew the Doctor well by now and she was interested in him yet she didn’t push it. River liked to push the Doctor a lot.. 

“God’s sake stop rationalizing it!” putting his hands to his face he groaned loudly. “I want Eva!” 

**

Eva finished her little binge watch of tentacle porn, got up, feeling rather dirty, then went to her room. Tomorrow was singles awareness day or Valentine’s day and she did not want to be on earth for that shit show. The medium drew a bath for herself, chucking in a bath bomb for good measure, then stripped down. “Wish the Doctor could see this..” she smirked, sinking into the warm water, wrapping herself with bubbles. 

Valentine’s day was just another way to pick single people out and pick on them for not having someone, Eva mused. Even when she did have someone her relationship did not last until Valentine’s day anyway. She’d only had one date on V day before and that was certainly a lackluster performance on the guy’s part. Going out for fast food, a hideous bunch of flowers and stale candy did not set the bar high at all. She was a bossy girl and guys found that intimidating. The guy she had been more or less dating, Mark, had turned into a whiny little boy, a number she’d ended up blocking. 

Scrubbing herself down, Eva put on a face mask and soaked for 15 more minutes before washing it all off. She was about to flip down the drain when she heard the Doctor calling for her. 

“What do you want, Doctor?” 

“Where are you?” she flipped down the drain, got out and wrapped a towel around herself, walking into the bedroom. 

“I just finished scrubbing up. What is it?” 

The way she looked fresh out of the tub and washed up, faintly smelling like roses stimulated the Doctor’s senses. Water droplets fell off her wet hair, some sliding down her enticingly, making him wonder what she would look like in the buff.. “Come on out to the console room when you’re ready. We’ve landed somewhere.” he almost couldn’t look her in the eye as he left. 

Eva knew exactly what he was thinking, a wry smile on her face. She changed into her favorite pink and yellow skirt, pink button up shirt and her ankle boots. For makeup just a touch of cotton candy pink stick eyeshadow, pink lipstick and she was ready to go. 

“So what’s going on now?” Eva got up to the console, leaned on it and fixed the Doctor with her look. She was almost all in pink, what was that significance? The Doctor wondered. 

“Doctor?” 

“The TARDIS took us somewhere this time-I had nothing to do with it,” he clarified, snapping his fingers to open the doors. “so don’t blame me if we see something weird.” 

“Every day is weird here. I’m not rattled so easily.” they left the TARDIS. 

**

They had come into what looked like a laboratory setting; the lobby was painted in a very soft red and all the photos on the wall were framed in pink. Eva took a look at some of them-they were of all kinds of couples together in cute poses. “This seems to be a place that celebrates love.” 

“There are a few backwater planets that do,” the Doctor went over to the information desk. “we’re new here, what kind of place is this?” 

A help robot scanned the Doctor. “Welcome, Time Lord,” Eva went up and was scanned. “and Time Lady.” 

“What?”

“Happened with the Daleks too,” Eva rolled her eyes. “never mind.” 

“Your suite is this way,” the robot took them down a corridor that was painted in lurid purple. “welcome to planet Valentine, the happiest place on earth.” 

“You got a planet Valentine now?” he shook his head. “interesting. This could be a science experiment.” 

“If you wanna call it that.” Eva wanted to see where this was going. They were brought to a suite at the end of the hall, the robot buzzed them in. The suite had a very light pink on the walls, white furniture, including a little kitchenette, and the bed had a rich deep red comforter on it with pillow shams in red, pink and purple. 

“How long are we here for?” the Doctor was already disgusted, picking up a pillow sham like it was a dead rat and flinging it aside. 

“24 hours precisely,” the robot informed them. “we have locked the suite doors and will attend to your every need. Have fun while staying with us; we have several aphrodisiacs available for your pleasure.” 

Eva heard that and bit her lip again, trying not to laugh as the Doctor appeared very disturbed. The robot left the suite, locking the door as the Doctor opened up the refrigerator door, seeing the shelves were jam packed with everything they would need. Linens were full, complimentary toiletries were at their service, etc. The medium turned down one corner of the bedclothes, noticing the sheets were light purple satin. “Oh, this is nice.” 

“You call this nice?! I’d rather be out there using my brain and stopping wars but the TARDIS dumps us here for 24 hours!” the Doctor sat at the little table in exasperation. 

“It’s not that bad, all right? Look, the bot assumes we’re a couple in here for a good time.” she sat on the bed, kicking off her boots. 

“A good time is all you humans think about.” 

“The primitive instincts are hard wired into us humans, Doctor. We have the biological urges to mate and we can fight it if we want to,” Eva was placating. “nobody’s going to force you to do something you don’t want to do.” 

“As long as it stays that way.” 

“What time is it?” Eva glanced at the clock. “It’s around 12 so why don’t we have some lunch, keep chatting and maybe find something on TV. If you do feel the urge to treat us just remember I’m deathly allergic to strawberries.” 

“As if you’d find them on an alien planet,” the Doctor checked on top of the fridge where a small pack of them were sitting. “oh.” 

“Come on, let’s watch a movie,” Eva cajoled, taking the covered plate off the table and putting it in her lap, perching on the edge of the bed. “I won’t put the moves on you, I swear.” 

“You won’t if you know what’s good for you,” he reluctantly joined her. “what movie is this?” 

“I don’t know.” it was in a language they didn’t recognize so Eva, ever the inventive type, started narrating the movie herself. Her commentary was so hilarious to the Doctor he laughed until tears started to form in his eyes. 

“I didn’t realize you had such a cutting wit about you!” 

“Well..,” Eva put her plate back and flung herself on the bed next to the Doctor, lying down with a lazy smile. “there are a lot of things you don’t know about me.” 

“Really?” he liked a challenge. “I know you’re 37, lost a child, lost a friend, have a family that doesn’t treat you well, and your romantic life is a chaotic hot mess.” 

“I love it when you try to sound human by using my slang,” she teased him. “you know now of my strawberry allergy, I love cats, I like sports and I can play guitar better than you.” 

Eva looked very cute sprawled faceup on the bed, the Doctor had even started secretly twirling a strand of her hair around one finger without her knowing it. “Your turn, Doctor. What’s something I don’t know about you?” 

“Well, long before I knew you I had a wife,” he could have kicked himself. Why did the Doctor bring that up? It was ancient history. “her name was River Song..” 

“I thought something like that went on,” Eva admitted, listening to his long story. When he finished the sun had started to set and Eva was looking at him with a mournful expression in her eyes. “oh Doctor, I’m so sorry it happened to you.” 

Now it was his turn to bite his lip and look away. “that’s why I never said anything. Then you, damn you, had to come into my life..” 

“I understand it now. You think you should honor her memory by not connecting to someone else romantically; it would be like a betrayal of her if you should decide to get together with me.” 

“How do you know?” 

“When I worked in the emergency room there were deaths, Doctor. I spoke with several people who were the surviving spouses and some of them felt the way that you do. My sole question to them was is that what your spouse wants you to do? Does River really want you to hide yourself away like you’re doing and be bereft of a worthy companion?” 

“Good point.” 

“Now, devil’s advocate here-what’s the harm of using the room to its full advantage tonight?” 

“Eva!” he hadn’t thought about it. 

“Whoops, rushing it. Sorry, Doctor. The way you look at me sometimes though..” she smiled. “I do feel special in a certain way. I’ll back off now.” 

**

During suppertime the Doctor sat with Eva and they had a pleasant chat all throughout. She smiled, plucking a rose from a nearby vase and tucking it behind one ear. “I think the color red suits you well, Eva,” a faint odor of flowers filled the room. “you know, when you wear red lipstick your lips look so inviting to me.” 

“Do they?” she was surprised. “I don’t wear red because my lips are just a hair too big to really get away with it.” 

“No, they look good.” they put their plates in the little dishwasher. “Are you feeling a bit lightheaded?” 

“Maybe a bit. The flowers are a little overpowering. But that doesn’t need to interfere. Come on Doctor, let’s have a chat.” Eva unbuttoned her shirt a little bit as he joined her. The Doctor felt so relaxed he took a little peep at her chest which made her laugh. “There you are, getting in touch with your human self. Go on, don’t be shy.” 

“You don’t be shy either,” he said in a husky voice. Eva pushed his peacoat off him, his funny magician jacket she called it, and put her hands on his shirt, unbuttoning a few. She was lying on the bed he was leaning over her on one shoulder. Very close together now the Time Lord opened up her shirt a little more with his free hand then gazed at her lips. Without thinking about it the Doctor sealed his lips over hers, enjoying it more because Eva was awake and able to reciprocate fully. He finally pulled away, drawing a shaky breath while the medium smiled. “I was thinking about doing that for a long time.” 

“Same here.” he pulled her shirt off, admiring the view. “Least I can’t get you pregnant.” 

“True, very true.” Eva put her hand on her belly followed by the Doctor’s. The glowing began again as the Doctor began kissing Eva’s lips, neck and worked his way down. More clothes were flung off carelessly, the Doctor teased Eva, making her beg him to penetrate her. 

“You Time Lords don’t play fair at all! Well, I’ve got my feminine wiles too..” she got on top of him, licking, kissing, sucking until he was absolutely ready to get inside her. The medium, smirking openly, expertly wrapped one hand around his cock, pumping him up and down slowly then building up the intensity. With an evil smile on her face Eva knelt down, taking the Doctor’s cock full on in her mouth, sucking him until he had dropped the rest of his reserve, moaning loudly while she went to town on him. 

When he was about ready to come she dropped the act, a devilish look on her face then said to him, “Your call now. Want to ride me?” 

“Yes I do!” the Doctor sat up with her, smooching every inch he could get then pushed her down, got into position. Eva could feel every inch of him as he pushed himself in, arching her neck back and moaning. With every thrust he gave Eva met it, raising her pelvis up to make it more rewarding for them both. She was good, never faltering, matching his timing exactly while the Doctor drove on in his frenzy of hormones. 

When he came it was nothing like Eva had ever experienced before. He gave one final thrust and came very hard, filling Eva’s hole with very hot Time Lord spunk. The two of them were sweaty, exhausted, panting with the effort. 

“Holy shit,” Eva saw the Doctor lying next to her, his hand on her pelvis which still glowed. “I never knew you had it in you!” 

“Time Lords do it better!” he laughed, kissing Eva. 

“Wow.. you’re so full of surprises,” she watched the Doctor take a robe, toss one to her then settle down on the bed. “never thought I’d have sex with you.” 

“Same here. What time is it? Doesn’t matter, I’m exhausted.” he tossed the robe aside and got into the bed. Eva joined him, asking for a post coital snuggle which he allowed. 

“So was it you then?” an idea came to her mind. 

“Me what?” the Doctor turned out the lights and settled down next to Eva, looking at her shapely form in the dark. 

“You kissed me and caused me to have that dream. Well played.” she kissed his nose happily. 

“It was the red lips!” he protested. “Honestly it’s the truth!” 

“There was other attractions, Doctor not just the lips. Anyway I’m glad to be here with you and I know we will be together for awhile.” Eva smothered a yawn but the Doctor knew what she was doing. 

“Come on now, time to sleep.” she drifted off effortlessly. The Doctor was resolute that their doctor-assistant relationship not be altered while they were exploring worlds and he had to remind himself not to get emotionally invested in other peoples’ sufferings. Eva might make him a little too human at times but she understood he needed to be emotionally detached for a reason. 

The Doctor could almost imagine River giving him a cheeky grin and a thumbs up from wherever her spirit was now. He kissed Eva’s cheek, relaxed himself, then followed her into sleep. 

**

Just like always the Doctor woke up first. He ran his hand down Eva’s body, giving her ample butt a tap, then got up out of bed. Tying on his robe he answered the door to see the robot looking at him. “Are you enjoying your stay with us? Would you like to rate your experience?” 

“Get lost!” the Time Lord shut the door. “Spam bots are a physical thing now!” grumbling to himself he took a shower and exchanged his robe for a fresh one. “I never thought I’d be spending a full 24 hours not wearing actual clothes.” 

Fresh coffee was brought to the room by a maid and graciously accepted by the Doctor. The aroma wafted over to Eva’s nose and she began to rouse from her slumber. Blinking a few times she tilted her head up to see the Doctor watching her. 

“Good morning to you, sleepy girl,” he teased as she sat upright in the bed, holding her sheet to her body. “don’t be shy, it’s only me.” the Doctor handed her a cup. 

“Thanks. Last night was amazing, Doctor,” she said sincerely. “we can’t top it.” 

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said airily. “we might be able to.” 

“I like a challenge,” she winked. “let our raw sexuality out to play.” 

“Exactly.” he was pleased she was thinking among his lines. Eva finished her coffee, had breakfast, and knowing they had to leave by around 3, asked the Doctor what he was thinking about now. 

“Just getting my hands all over you and working your body to my advantage,” the dirty teenager came out in the Doctor. “I’m going to take you through the Gallifreyan art of seduction!” 

“Sounds exotic.” 

“It’s pretty much the same as you humans do but I’ll try to put a twist on it. I know you like tentacle porn so I’ll do my best to try to get you off in that direction.” the Doctor sat next to Eva on the bed and slid a hand underneath the sheets, zeroing in on her glory hole. In a second he had transformed his hand to a big fat tentacle and teased her inner lips so she got wet enough. The medium let out an audible gasp as the tentacle wiggled around inside her and her expression changed. 

“I take it you like it, eh?” he chuckled. “You’ve no idea what kind of damage I can do to you with this.” 

“A little deeper..,” Eva begged, feeling a bit weak. The Doctor embraced her with his unoccupied arm, she put her head on his broad chest as he flicked and tickled her, liking all the sounds she was making. “god Doctor, you really know how to please a woman..” he liked that compliment, pushing in a little more, his tentacle grazing all over her corrugated vaginal walls. He pushed her to her limit, making her moan more and more. 

A part of Eva knew that it was getting to be too much-she was overstimulated and too high on the Doctor fucking her to care much. She came hard which proved that her body and mind had been pushed way too hard on her endurance levels. The Doctor grinned at her but his face went in and out of focus. “Too much..” she managed to say. 

“Eva!” the Doctor saw Eva’s eyes roll back and she fainted. Grabbing the sonic screwdriver he scanned the medium, lying her in a comfortable position on the bed. “Her life signs are astronomically through the roof!” he noted. Time Lord endurance was much higher so he made a note to himself to tell Eva to let him know when it became too much. 

The Doctor waited an hour before Eva showed signs of reviving. She lifted her head up from the pillow, wondering what was going on when the Doctor reappeared. “I think we’ve had enough sex for the moment,” he sat down next to her then scanned Eva thoroughly. “I forget your endurance is different than mine so I’ll go easy next time.” he gave her a kiss. 

“How long has it been?” 

“It hasn’t grown since you saw it last,” the Doctor chuckled. “only about an hour. Let me make it up to you..” the Doctor began making out with Eva carefully, kissing her chest, licking and playfully biting at her neck. A few minutes of that and Eva was already happily being penetrated by the Doctor. “I’ll fill you up really well now.” 

“Fill me up, Doctor!” Eva chimed in as she met his thrusting. 

**

By the time checkout arrived both the Doctor and Eva were starting to become a little sore. The robot met them at the door and brought them down to the service desk, asking how their stay went. 

“I think we reached a new level of understanding.” the Doctor grinned at his companion. 

Eva smiled back, the pink fresh in her cheeks and she looked much more relaxed. “I think so too.” 

Back in the TARDIS the Doctor programmed the ship to drift for awhile, looking up at Eva. “We need to stay friendly but detached when we go out exploring, Eva. We can’t let our feelings for each other infect how we feel about a situation we get into. Our doctor-assistant relationship stays the same.” 

“I agree with that. Now you can spend nights in my room in the bed with me and not on the lounger.” she winked. 

“How did you know about that?” 

“You don’t think I wake up in the middle of the night for a piss?” she teased. “It’s very sweet.” 

“Well, now I have your permission I guess I might just do that,” he said mischievously. “you never know when I’m around..” 

“I might wake up in the middle of the night to find you dry humping me? I’d like to see that happen,” Eva winked. “excuse me, I need to rest up a little bit after you made me pass out this morning.” 

“That was a mistake. I’d never hurt you.” he chucked her under the chin. “Now go and rest up for the next round!” 

“Yes Doctor!” Eva went to her room. 

The Doctor hadn’t felt that good in a long time. The TARDIS could sense that the atmosphere was much improved between the two of them and didn’t give the Doctor any trouble. Catching a glimpse of himself in the monitor he could see the pink in his cheeks as well; the post sex flush that all couples got. Finding nothing to fix for once he waited about an hour then went into Eva’s room to find her sound asleep. 

“Eva,” the Doctor whispered, clambering over her and settling down. Raising himself up a little bit he kissed her full on the lips, not wanting to disturb her rest. “sleep well.” he picked up a book he had been reading off the lounger, lying beside her and using a small light he began to read while the TARDIS obediently drifted in the space time vortex.


	14. Creatures in the night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor stayed quiet, meditating as the cold breeze washed over him several times like something invisible was trying to scare him. He was about ready to ask Eva another question when he felt something at his back. Fingertips started up the small of his back right up to the top of his shoulders, causing him to suck in a breath as the fear response set in.

Creatures In the Night

Eva inhaled quietly, feeling herself start to wake up. She turned on her left hand side with a little sigh, hoping to get maybe 10 minutes’ worth of sleep before the Doctor would start barking at her. Something hot was on her left hand side; it was like she had been sleeping next to a hot water bottle of sorts. The Doctor was hot blooded she knew but not like that. 

So why was it so hot in the room then? The TARDIS’s climate control was exceptionally maintained so Eva opened up her eyes. What she saw was the Doctor lying next to her, his cheeks slightly flushed and his body radiating heat. The medium sat up in alarm, putting her cool hand on his brow. “Oh you poor thing,” the Doctor was definitely sick. “I hope I don’t have to tie you down to the bed now in order to administer drugs to you. Let me check and see what I have here in the medicine cabinet.” 

Oral acetaminophen, ibuprofen, a decongestant and antihistamine bottles greeted her eyes. Eva didn’t like the extremely arduous task of trying to get the Doctor to take anything orally so she went into the sickbay and obtained some IV vials and syringes instead. Even when the Doctor was sick he could be quite a challenging patient for her to deal with. 

Still, she’d had worse. Working in intensive care the patients were mostly bedridden and at her mercy but in her time as an emergency nurse she’d had to have security come a few times to hold people down if they were in a delirium. It was rare but it did happen. The medium took a syringe and measured out a standard dose of ibuprofen, pushed up the pajama shirt sleeve on the Doctor’s arm then shot the medicine directly into the vein. 

“That’ll keep you under control for a little while.” knowing how tricky he could be Eva also kept a few prefilled syringes handy of mild tranquilizers. If he was in a delirium she would not use the drugs but was happy they were within easy reach. 

The medium got up off the bed, took a shower then changed into her loungewear which consisted of a neon orange shirt and a pair of pajama pants that had labradors scattered all over it. Eva didn’t touch her makeup that day but went about her normal business, making breakfast, getting some exercise from the gym, then settling in on the lounger with several books to keep her company. “Let’s see, Jane Eyre, what have you got for me today?” Eva picked up the book, stretching out comfortably. In no time at all she was lost in the book, imagining herself at Thornfield Hall while Mr. Rochester tried dating another woman to make Jane jealous. 

The Doctor turned in his sleep and moaned fitfully, his face pathetic, the lines were drawn and seemed more deeper than they usually were. Eva paused in reading for a moment, seeing that her friend was apparently saying something in his sleep. Putting the book down she sat on the edge of the bed, wondering what he was dreaming about. The Doctor dreamt a fair amount but as to what his dreams contained Eva could barely guess. She put her hand on her brow when he seemed restless, his lips moving but she couldn’t hear him. 

“No,” he said in a vague voice, just loud enough for Eva to pick up on it. “cold.. dark.. shadows..” 

“Shadows?” confused, Eva put an ice pack on his forehead. “Doctor, you’re all right. They can’t get you..” she whispered back to him. 

Her words seemed to resonate with the Doctor as he opened up his eyes a little bit. She smiled slightly. “Good morning, Doctor,” he looked dazed, his mouth moving but no words came out. Eva could see that he wasn’t going to stay awake for long. “you’re sick so don’t get out of bed. It’s almost time for your next dose of medicine; stay in the bed before I have to tie you down again.” 

He was sick? That was news to him. But they had plans to take a little vacation in 18th century Germany! A little flu bug wasn’t going to keep him from chatting up the locals and taking in the German countryside. The Doctor tried to push away the covers, thinking that they could get a small house overlooking the country meadows and he could mend there but he didn’t reckon on Eva being stronger than he was. He tried to thrust aside the comforter but was stopped by Eva’s strong grip. The medium pushed him back down without a word as the Doctor began sinking back into sleep. 

“You’re not going anywhere,” she firmly told him, putting the covers back. “any trips we have planned they can be rescheduled. After all this is a time machine.” 

Damnit she was right. On all levels; the Doctor could feel the hand on his forehead as Eva shifted the ice pack a little more. The medium sure knew what she was doing, the Doctor thought as he closed his eyes and slid into another feverish dream. 

Eva spent most of the day on the lounger engrossed in Jane Eyre. The Doctor hadn’t been any trouble at all which was a first. He’d been stirring off and on, always muttering something about shadows, creatures people couldn’t see and vice versa. The medium was getting more curious about his dreams and what they meant to him so she got up off the lounger and onto the bed. “I don’t think one quick little peek would hurt. After all you’re sleeping.” she mumbled to herself, putting a few fingertips to the Doctor’s temple and clearing her mind. 

It came to her in a flash. A little boy she assumed to be the Doctor was out playing ball with his friends after dark one night when the ball got lost near a derelict barn. All the other boys stood and goaded the Doctor into retrieving the ball as he’d been the one to lose it. He didn’t want to go get the ball but the other boys sensed his fear and begun to mock him for it. The Doctor did retrieve the ball, endured some ribbing from the boys but inside he was shaking. 

One night the Doctor woke up from his bed to see drifting shadows playing across the window. Something leaned over and seemed to stretch over to him, five very long digits coming across the quilts and blankets, making the Doctor panic and switch on a light. Nothing was there but Eva could see that he wasn’t convinced. Snatching up a few blankets he left the room where a few other boys were sleeping, going outside and up into the hayloft of a barn. As he was getting into the bed something grabbed his ankle which caused him to burst into hysterical tears. 

He snuggled into the bed and cried himself to sleep. Eva had the impression that he did sleep in a barn a lot as a child to protect his self image from the other children in the home. The medium broke the connection then, her eyes a little teary themselves from seeing what he went through. Kids were not easy to live with; there were always some who preyed on the weakness of others just because they could. It explained why the Doctor had a very blustery nature, putting on the brave front with everyone regardless whether he was scared of anything or anyone. If he was loud and confident nobody would guess his true emotion or what he was feeling on the inside. 

Everyone was like that to a degree. Eva had to put on a brave face when her emergency room cases suddenly went south, like a man in a car accident who everyone thought would recover. He ended up with a brain hemorrhage and had to undergo a craniotomy in order to relieve the pressure. The poor guy had ended up in a coma, suffered irreversible brain death and had to be withdrawn from life support. 

Alone in the kitchen cleaning up after supper, Eva thought some more about the Doctor and the scared of the dark boy in his dreams. Everyone had childhood fears; hers weren’t very different from the Doctor’s in any way. She slept with a night light on until she was about 10 years old for fear of monsters in the dark then got over the fear. 

“Oh, shit!” she clattered her dish in the sink as Jade the cat got up and sat beside the faucet. “You silly girl, you scared me!” with a chuckle she patted her big cat as Jade surveyed the faucet and began to drink water right out of the tap. When Eva was done she put the dishes away, turned off the faucet and picked up her cat. “My little pussy,” Eva kissed Jade, depositing her on the top of the bureau as the Doctor turned again in bed. “let me change for bed and give the Doctor his shot of medicine then we can play.” 

In her blue and white nightgown, Eva gave the Doctor his shot of ibuprofen, this time a bigger dose, bandaged the mark then checked his fever. It had gone down some which was an improvement to say the least. He still looked like a little boy to Eva’s eyes, all flushed and childlike, his features slightly deepened like he was in distress. 

“Doctor,” Eva removed the ice pack and put it away. Jade stood on the Doctor’s chest and waited impatiently for playtime. “Jade you mean kitty cat!” she giggled, picking up the cat, putting her on the cat tree and giving her a toy to play with. 

The hour was getting late so Eva got into bed beside the Doctor. While the cat played with her catnip toys and started getting the kitty high, Eva sat up and finished Jane Eyre. Shadows played across the room with the low light of the lamp, making her watch them idly for a long moment. Unless she was mistaken the Doctor was still afraid of the dark. He was able to cover it up well but a fragment of that fear he had taken with him into his adulthood which was natural. 

Eva watched the Doctor in his sleep, noticing that he still looked distressed a little bit. She could give him good dreams through their telepathic link but she wanted to try something different before it came to that. Music was a good option so Eva wracked her brains trying to figure out which song would get the best response from him. Buddy Holly came to mind. The Doctor had lunch with him once and he had promised to take Eva with him to see Buddy in concert when he was on tour in the UK. With a little smile on her face the medium thought of the sweet song Everyday and began to sing a verse, watching how it affected the Doctor. 

“Everyday it’s a little closer  
Going faster than a roller coaster  
Love like yours will surely come my way..” she did the first and second verses. The Doctor seemed to respond very well overall; his features smoothed out, he looked more relaxed than he had at first. 

Once she stopped the Doctor tensed up again a little bit so Eva thought of a different song from Queen to sing: 

“You say you love me  
And I hardly know your name  
And if I say I love you in the candle light  
There's no one but myself to blame  
But there's something inside  
That's turning my mind away  
Oh, how I could love you  
If I could let you stay..” she let the note trail off, observing the Doctor looked completely relaxed now. 

Eva touched his forehead; it was just starting to get cooler. By the morning he should break out in a cool sweat, she thought. Snuggling up next to him the medium’s senses were alerted by something stirring inside her. The embryo had decided to act up a little bit, giving her all sorts of nudges. “Looks like my little passenger is playing games with me.” taking the Doctor’s hand she put it on her belly even though he wasn’t conscious. Her pelvis glowed; it only happened when the Doctor touched her which was really something. 

**

The Doctor kept having dreams of shadow creatures coming up to get him in any different variety of situations; he was always close to figuring something out then the figure would come up and engulf him, making him scream and the scene always went black while he felt like he was falling. 

In one of those scenes the concealed figure was about to strike when the Doctor heard a voice singing. With that the light blossomed onto the scene casting brilliant golden rays into the figure, making it smoke and dissipate into nothingness. Bewildered, the Doctor looked around to see who was playing a record or CD. There was nobody there and as he listened he could hear Eva’s voice plainly. All thoughts of shadow creatures evaporated from his mind so he stood up, basked in the golden light that was music and began to sing along. 

There was something else too. A little glowing orb of light drifted down to the Doctor like a firefly but bigger. Fascinated, the Doctor reached up one hand to touch the orb and when he did he saw a miniature person with big eyes looking back at him. Eva’s embryo, he knew. It was interesting to know that the embryo had turned up in his dreams; they seemed to have developed a rapport ever since he’d grudgingly accepted Eva was pregnant. 

One blue eye opened followed by the other one. The Doctor saw right off that Jade was sitting beside him and Eva; two green cat eyes were watching him quietly. Tickling Jade’s ears the Doctor looked beside him to see Eva was sound asleep, her head tilted towards his like she was about to share a secret with him. Moving a little bit closer, the Doctor kissed his friend on the forehead in thanks for all the care she had given him. 

The medium stirred, making a little sleepy sound which the Doctor liked. Big brown eyes focused on his then a smile came to Eva’s face. “Good morning, Doctor.” 

Jade, not liking the fact she wasn’t the center of attention, got up on her human and sat on her chest with her tail twitching. “Get off me, you fat thing you!” 

“You’re finally awake,” the Doctor teased, yawning. “how bad was I yesterday?” 

“Not too bad really. You were awake once I think but not for very long,” Eva stroked her cat’s fur which produced a loud rusty sounding purr. “I wasn’t going to bribe you taking oral medications again, not after last time so I just gave you injections.” 

“I heard you in my dreams singing.” 

“I’m glad. Did they work for you?” 

“They did. I want to ask you something-did you ever get scared of the dark as a child?” she was taken aback but didn’t mind the question. 

“For awhile yes. I actually slept for years with a night light in my room then as I grew up I got over it.” 

“I figured.” they both sat up. 

“Fear of something lingers on when we’re all adults,” Eva was blunt. “our fear may be less intense but it’s still there. I for one leaned to embrace the darkness when I was a teenager.” 

“Why?” 

“Because of what I am today, Doctor. I am a medium now-I spent more time in the dark than the light. Spirits can show up easier in the dark because they are made of light. I find the blackness to be more relaxing than the light-think about it. We lie down in blackness every night to sleep, to get that blackness ourselves. It’s calming and we all crave that sweet escape from reality at the end of every day.” 

“I guess I get that,” the Doctor agreed, glancing down at Eva’s figure. “something else came to me in my dreams as well,” he clasped his hand to her waist. “it was in a ball of golden light which I figure represents you to a T.” 

“My embryo definitely likes you. I’ll be sad to have it removed; it’s been rewarding and useful to carry it.” she put her hand on the Doctor’s with a grin. It was interesting to see how the Doctor had grown in his thinking; he wasn’t accepting of the embryo in the beginning but now he was used to it, liking it even. It was a two way street; the embryo glowed when the Doctor was around and it even moved for him as well. There were a few little movements for their amusement which had them smiling. 

“Everyone who scans us now will see two hearts on you and assume you’re a Time Lady,” the Doctor snorted. “I didn’t see that one coming.” he took his hand off her pelvis a bit reluctantly. 

Eva laughed as she hopped off the bed. “I didn’t either but it can be useful. Apparently nobody checks to see where the heartbeat is located before they assume I’m a Time Lady.” the Doctor got up as well, took a shower and got into some clean clothes. 

The medium gave him a once over before they went into the console room and was satisfied with the Doctor’s recovery. “If you overdo it I will kick your ass,” she warned, sitting in the chair nearest to him. “I have an experiment I want to do today and it involves you.” 

“What kind of experiment is this?” he suddenly looked wary. 

“You’ll see when you get there. First off I want you to stand still and close your eyes for me,” Eva got up and stood next to him, her arms raised. “don’t question me. Think of what scared you most as a kid and hold that image in your mind for a moment.” 

The Doctor did so, confused as to what Eva was requesting but doing it anyway. He felt her fingertips at his temples pressing down slightly then she moved away. “OK so we’re doing something unorthodox but you’ll be glad we did it.” Eva moved to the telepathic panel and plugged her fingers in deeply, concentrating on the image that the Doctor gave her. 

Opening up his eyes he saw Eva at the panel, her eyes were closed, concentrating hard as the TARDIS engaged. “Are we going into my memory?” 

“We are going into that nightmare place of yours and I will help you confront your fear of the dark, Doctor.” the medium said in such a determined voice it would be useless to argue about it with her. Once her mind was made up, much like the Doctor, it was futile to try to fight about it. Eva kept the picture in her mind the Doctor had, watching the time rotor columns circulating above. 

“Why didn’t you let me plug that into the TARDIS?” he made sure he had his sonic devices. 

“You’d put up a fight, Doctor!” Eva laughed as the Doctor slid one of the monitors over, seeing a readout of the TARDIS scanning Eva from head to toe, her embryo resting snugly inside her. The TARDIS landed but then the telepathic circuit hissed and sparked, nearly blinding Eva in a flash of light. She tried to get her fingers out of the panel but couldn’t. “Something’s up with this! Doctor!” 

He grabbed her hands and yanked them free but not before Eva got a shock and she cried out as a white hot burning pain seared through her left wrist, making her knees buckle. The Doctor snatched her around the waist, avoiding further injury, then seated her in the chair. “Did you get hurt? Let me see,” on her left forearm there was an electrical burn, bright red and irritated. The Doctor sucked in his breath, knowing that was a bad burn but it could have been worse. Just the air touching her burn made Eva flinch as the Doctor examined her injury. “It’s not that bad,” he told her. “I’ve got just the thing.” 

With the first aid kit he stored under one of the seats the Doctor put a salve over Eva’s burn and loosely bandaged it. The burn felt like someone was holding Eva’s arm to a fire and letting it burn off the outer layer of her skin; the salve helped a little bit with the pain thankfully. They had arrived at literally the Doctor’s worst nightmare and his friend who was going to help him was injured. “You’ll have to stay here.” the Doctor stood up, put the kit away, then leaned on the TARDIS console panel across from her. 

“Like hell I will!” she tried to rise but a cramp from her pelvis stopped her. “Oh god!” 

The Doctor went to her side, scanning her with the sunglasses. “It doesn’t like the fact you got a shock and is in a little distress. I want you to stay here while I go out there.” 

“I can’t abandon you, Doctor!” Eva protested, wincing and doubling over from another cramp. 

“I won’t look at it that way, I promise,” he stood up with his hand on her shoulder. “you need to rest after getting a shock like that. If you don’t you could miscarry.” 

She paled a little at that prospect but reluctantly agreed with the Doctor. “Do you have a radio so we can stay in contact?” 

“Take this earpiece,” the Doctor handed her a small silver device. “it will connect to your auditory nerve and we’ll be able to communicate. You can follow me on the TARDIS monitor as I walk around out there.” 

“We can postpone this until I’m recovered, Doctor. I don’t want you out there alone.” 

“I might as well do it,” he popped in his earpiece. “now I’m all curious as to what is in the shadows, aren’t you?” Eva did not reply. “Tell me immediately if you get more cramps and I’ll rush you to medical help, all right?” 

“I hope I won’t have to.” Eva’s face had been gray but the color was starting to come back now. The Doctor put his hand on her shoulder again as she looked up to meet his eyes. 

“I hope not either,” he gave her a smile, a reassuring kiss on the cheek and left the TARDIS, reminding her to put her earpiece in. “see you soon!” 

Eva put the earpiece in her right ear, hissing slightly as the earpiece snapped into her auditory nerve. She had her cell phone on her, she had the TARDIS at her command, she could be in audio and visual contact with the Doctor so she felt a little safer. The TARDIS felt big and empty without the Doctor’s presence which could be quite intimidating. 

“I hope you settle down in there,” the medium muttered to her pelvis, pressing it gently. She hadn’t felt any more cramping but knew that the Doctor would not like it if she went out wandering. “good embryo.” 

“What are you talking about?” the Doctor had walked into a dark courtyard, very reminiscent of the one he’d first encountered the shadow beings. “Are you in pain?” he stopped at the entrance, opening up the small gate and sizing up the surroundings. 

“Apart from the burn, no,” Eva’s voice buzzed in his ears. “seems like my embryo is behaving itself.” 

“It was a mild shock but don’t overdo it,” the Doctor warned her. “are you seeing this?” 

“Yes I am. Go to where you saw the shadows and see what you find.” Eva directed. 

The Doctor did so, seeing waving trees with no leaves stirring in the wind aimlessly, the limbs swaying like they would bend and break. He went to the edge of the barn, looking for anything out of the ordinary but saw nothing. “You’re being very observant with the eyes now I want you to do something for me,” Eva tapped the console with one finger. “I want you to close your eyes and feel with your other senses.” 

“Are you mad?” the Doctor asked in disbelief. “I thought we were going to stop it!” 

“All we know is that it can’t be seen, Doctor. Close your eyes and open up your other senses. What do you hear and touch?” she prompted him. 

The Doctor stood next to the barn, very reticent to do what Eva told him. His eyes were his guide and to turn off his guide was like standing in a minefield at midnight. They wouldn’t get anywhere if he didn’t obey so he shut his eyes, complying with his friend. The hackles rose on the back of his neck, a cold breeze stirred in front. “There’s a cold wind in front of me.” 

“OK we’re starting to get there. I want you to rely on me for your vision. Now, turn left, walk about 4 paces and you’ll be near the house. Head to your old bedroom, sit down, then meditate. Tell me the impressions you’re feeling once you’re there.” 

“Right.” the Doctor entered the house, ignoring the cold while Eva moved over to the chalkboard and grabbed a piece of chalk. “Are you using my chalkboard?” he heard the familiar writing sound. 

“Yes I am,” Eva wrote down three columns: SEE, HEAR, TOUCH. Under touch she’d written in cold breeze and hackles up. Under see she wrote darkness and shadows. “you’re starting to exhibit signs of fear and I need you to be more analytical.” 

Analytical was what the Doctor usually did. Sitting on the empty bed the Doctor waved away the dust that was stirred up. “Doctor, I need you to position yourself so you face the window.” the moon loomed up in the background which cast eerie shadows on the property, making the scene feel like a dreamscape. 

“That was always the problem,” the Doctor grumbled, shifting. “there was always something in that window I couldn’t figure out.” 

“Maybe you can now. Close your eyes again.” 

A minute or two later the Doctor was meditating, paying attention to his breathing and regulating it when the cold breeze came up on him again. The hackles went up, he refused to break his trance, hoping that Eva saw whatever it was on the monitor. A low ominous creak sounded on the floorboard, far away at first but coming closer to him. “Are you hearing that?” 

“I am. I don’t see anything yet.” 

“I’ll continue.” the Doctor stayed quiet, meditating as the cold breeze washed over him several times like something invisible was trying to scare him. He was about ready to ask Eva another question when he felt something at his back. Fingertips started up the small of his back right up to the top of his shoulders, causing him to suck in a breath as the fear response set in. 

“Put on your sonic sunglasses,” Eva’s voice was hoarse. “oh my god.” 

The Doctor spun around in a flash then saw a very big dark creature with red eyes and long black fingers with nails poised, ready to dig into his flesh. He took out the screwdriver, dissipating the creature with the high frequency sound waves and gave a yell of triumph. “Ha ha! Take that!” 

“Good one. Does the room have a mirror?” 

“Yes.” 

“Break it.” 

“Bingo!” he used the sonic to break the mirror, walking out to the courtyard again. “That was interesting to say the least.” 

“I think we busted your childhood monster, Doctor. That would grab you under the bed as well,” Eva sketched out a crude drawing of the creature, writing childhood monster underneath it. “come on back to the TARDIS.” she put a hand on her belly, making sure the embryo behaved and smiled when she felt a little kick in return. 

**

Later on over supper the Doctor asked Eva if she had any childhood monsters lurking in her bedroom. She had to think on that one for a moment, ignoring Jade mooching for tidbits underneath the table. “Well, have you ever seen the movie Ghostbusters?” 

“Yes.” 

She grinned. “The terror dogs. I had a huge fear of them growing up. I thought they were in my closet, under my bed, on my bed and in the hallway. Then I developed a fear over one scene where the hands spring up out of the chair and I wouldn’t sit in an armchair for a long time.” 

“Hmmm,” the Doctor paused. “sounds like a normal childhood fear to me.” 

“Yes. Then when I was a teenager I got deathly sick and was afraid of dying,” Eva reminded him. “then one night a guy sneaked into my room and gave me a healing drug which saved my life,” her eyes shone with love for the Doctor. “the darkness and shadows can also bring very good things.” 

The Doctor gazed at her with a soft look in his eyes. Pride, affection, definitely love was present on those blue orbs which mirrored Eva’s gaze as well. Their hands met across the table; the Doctor thought how lucky he was to have Eva as a companion, friend, lover, someone who was older and more mature than the young crowd he’d seemed to have lately. The other past friends were fun and had their strengths but Eva was in a class by herself. 

“True. The blackness can bring many good things.” was all he said. 

That night the Doctor was reading in bed while Eva was finishing up in the bathroom. She walked out, shed her robe, then slid into bed next to him while the cat lounged on her cat tree. “Whatcha reading then?” the medium lay down. 

“The coronation of Elizabeth the first,” he announced, setting the book down. “where would you like to visit next?” the Doctor rubbed one hand up and down her right arm. 

“Well, I’d like to visit with Buddy Holly when he visited England on his UK tour in what was it, 57?” 

“I’ll have to look it up later. Lovely gentleman, smoked like a chimney and had that Texas drawl,” the Doctor remembered. “you’ll have to get into 1950s style dresses.” 

“Not all of them require petticoats,” Eva turned on her side to see the Doctor better. “so do you feel happier now that we rumbled your childhood monster? Do you feel validated that there was something there after all these years?” 

“Yes I do. Also it’s good to be reminded that good things do indeed come in the cover of darkness. I remember when I walked into that room when you were so sick, looking like you were at death’s door.” 

“I was.” 

“I was glad to put a stop to that!” he pecked her on the cheek. “Why did you have me destroy a mirror?” 

“Some believe, especially the Victorians, that mirrors are portals to the other side. I would not doubt childhood monsters are really shapeshifters coming in from different dimensions to terrorize children.” Eva’s burn flared a little bit which made her wince which the Doctor saw. 

“Is it the embryo?” 

“No. You know the old saying, once burned..” the Doctor laughed along with her.


	15. The Embryo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eva was lying faceup and she was just starting to come around from the drug when they walked into her sight. She started, her senses dulled by the sedative, but gradually recognition set in. The Doctor pressed his hand to her upper left shoulder as she closed her eyes, hearing him talk but nothing was sticking in her brain. “Her oxygen levels are steady now, I’m going to take her back to the ship.”

The Embryo

“Well, there he goes on the rest of his UK tour,” the Doctor stood beside Eva as they watched a tall figure in a black coat turn the corner and disappear. “February 1959 he will be no more.” 

Eva, dressed in an A line skirt in deep red and matching top, looked sadly at the receding figure for a long moment. “I wish it wasn’t so, Doctor. He was the best the fifties had to offer us in terms of rockability or just rock and roll altogether. Think of what he could have done.” she untied the black scarf at her neck, wrapping it around the bandage still present on her left wrist. 

“I know. He was a very intelligent young man yet he did what anyone else would have done in his position,” the Doctor put a hand on Eva’s shoulder. “let’s take you and those red lips of yours back to the TARDIS, yes?” 

“These red lips were made for kissing,” Eva giggled as they walked down the highway and turned a corner. “still, I’m sad to think that Buddy Holly died so ironically. If they’d stayed with the tour buses they would have been all right.” 

“That would not be a logical assumption,” the Doctor shut the TARDIS doors and pulled the switch. “we know how he died of course but if he’d stayed on the tour bus something else could have happened to him. The bus could have thrown a tire and fishtailed across a road or something. We can say what we want now but even the TARDIS could not bring Buddy Holly back. Besides if he didn’t die then there never would have been that song about him.” 

“Don Maclean’s American Pie,” Eva remembered. “before my time but it’s such a great tune.” 

“If Buddy hadn’t died we wouldn’t have it! Of course that’s no excuse for a young man dying so tragically but...” the Doctor trailed off, thinking hard about something. “how about we visit his grave for a little closure ourselves?” 

“Let me go get changed and I’ll be grateful. Are we visiting in the current day or does it matter what I look like?” 

The Doctor glanced over at her. “Go put on some jeans or nice warm pants. It’ll be cold-just don’t change the lipstick.” 

Eva laughed, reappearing in jeans, sneakers, a red t-shirt and burgundy button up shirt. She put on a pink hoodie then her leather jacket, sliding her phone in one pocket. The TARDIS wheezed and groaned through its paces, landing with a thump like always. The Doctor checked the monitor then snapped his fingers to open the door. “It’s about 37 degrees which is warm for February.” 

“Are we here on the day he died?” Eva pulled out a pair of mittens as she walked with him out into the open air, closing the door behind them. The chilly Texas air greeted them but it was a clear morning, no haze on the horizon and a faint smell of cedar wafted through the cemetery. 

“Yes. Your current year,” the Doctor answered, looking down to see a grave. “I believe this belongs to his father.” 

“They wanted to be near their son and I can’t blame them for that.” Eva knelt down to touch the stone, seeing the tributes like guitar picks and coins littering the space. Charles Hardin Holley was his true name, not Holly with no E like most people believed. It was just an error when Buddy was signing on with a record label. His mother started calling him Buddy and the name just stuck. 

“Why would people leave rubbish at a graveside?” the Doctor asked, kicking a spare rock into the gravel roadway. 

“It’s a sign of respect, Doctor,” Eva straightened up. “it says that someone was here and thinking about them, that’s all.” 

“Oh,” slightly mollified the Doctor measured Eva up. “are you reading him in the hereafter?” 

“I am getting something,” her eyes became fixed on a point just beyond the headstone. “I can see him.” the Doctor took her hand, opening his mind up so he could see what she could. 

“Without you as a conduit I couldn’t see anything at all.” the medium didn’t respond to her friend. 

Buddy stood tall like he had been in life, the big horn rimmed glasses which were trendy in the current day as they were back then, brown eyes keenly watching Eva. He had slicked back hair that was popular with greasers in the fifties, was wearing tan chinos with a white and black checked shirt. Buddy looked happy to be in Texas again with his family but Eva sensed his unease at the prospect of moving on. 

“Buddy,” she said casually. “you look confused. You died in Iowa in a plane crash. Your family’s mostly gone on and you should be with them.” 

“What happened to me?” confusing images crowded his mind of his last moments. 

“You died. Going into the details would cause you grief but remember they don’t matter anymore. Why are you still here around your grave?” 

“I like to see people come to pay their respects to me.” 

“We’ll always be doing that. You should be with your family now. If you’re worried we will forget you it won’t happen. There are many fans which carry the legacy with them now, Buddy. You can appear to us in dreams if you like. We love you and you need to go on as a spirit and progress to the higher dimensions so you can stay a spirit of light and evolve. You’ll still be here, every Halloween night, All Saints’ Day, and Walpurgis.” 

Buddy’s eyes widened as the Doctor shut his eyes. “I remember you two from a few years ago. I didn’t realize you were a medium, Eva.” 

“Well, I am. Do you trust me?” 

“I do.” he got closer to her. 

“OK. Do you see a light anywhere around you?” 

“No, I don’t.” 

“OK then,” Eva edged closer to Buddy. “the gateway to the other side has closed but I can open it up again for you. Will you go over when I do it?”

Buddy smiled at her. “I will. I want to see my family again. How will you do it?” 

“A simple prayer,” Eva recited a prayer then mentally filled herself with bright violet light. Extending out her right hand the medium held up a ball of the light which she showed to Buddy. “all you need to do is take this and walk into it.” the Doctor opened up his eyes, astounded that he could actually see the violet light. 

Buddy took the ball of light which drifted out of his hand, floated for a few feet, then a radiating light glowed, opening itself up into a pathway. The Texan had to peer into it carefully it was so bright but a smile lit up his face. “I can see my family!” 

“They’re waiting for you. Go in peace, Buddy.” he needed no encouragement as he started walking eagerly, calling out to his family and thanking Eva along with the Doctor. 

When the portal closed Eva sighed loudly, turning back to the TARDIS with the Doctor who opened up the door for her. “Did you do a lot of these cross overs?” 

“Now and then. I usually don’t because it can be emotionally taxing,” she pulled the switch for the Doctor. “Where do we head now?” 

“Attention Time Lord called the Doctor and earth woman Eva Barnes,” a voice came in over the system. “you are hearby requested and required to go to Maldaxor 3 and report into the medical facility. A situation has arisen and your expertise is required.” 

“What kind of situation?” the Doctor hated being required to go places. 

“Several inhabitants of the planet who are also volunteers for Titan’s repopulation program have encountered difficulties in carrying and Eva Barnes needs to be screened for genetic abnormalities.” was all the voice had to say. 

The Doctor and Eva both looked stunned, the former putting a hand on her belly. “The TARDIS would have alerted me if something was wrong, right?” 

“Yes it would have. I think this is a cover for something else,” the Doctor set the coordinates in for the planet. “never trust a horny teenager!” 

Eva ignored him as the TARDIS went through the motions, shoving her hands in her pockets. She wasn’t going to let anyone take the embryo away from her until it was time for surgery, she vowed. The embryo seemed to sense her apprehension and gave her a little shove as if to reassure her. 

“You’re quiet over there.” Eva was standing still with her hand protectively on her belly. 

“How would you feel if it was you? I hope they don’t take it away from me that’s all.” she went over to him. 

“They won’t. From what I can tell of this planet it’s an advanced civilization and they may want to run some tests on you to determine how a human can deal with a Titan embryo,” the Doctor gave her hand a quick squeeze. “now I need to be on my game so take that distracting red off your lips and let’s get started!” 

Eva laughed, removing the red lip and putting on a deep mauve nude instead while the Doctor checked the readout as the TARDIS landed. “Much better, Eva! Let’s go see what they want, yes?” 

“Yes let’s. I’ll be interested to see their technology.” she smiled. 

**

Down a hallway they went, following the signs to reception where a help desk robot looked up at them, the red light in the visor scanning each one of them. “Welcome, Doctor and Eva. I will take you to the examination room where more information can be given to you in detail.” the robot rolled forward, opened up the door then ushered them down the hall. 

“Very advanced technology I think.” Eva couldn’t believe how space age the building looked, albeit very white, cold and sterile looking. Keeping one hand protectively on her belly she strolled past banners of the medical center’s PR forays, ignoring the aliens in happy embraces with big black wording. 

“Maybe to your eyes,” the Doctor tailed the robot easily. “their technology is about a century or two behind Gallifrey.” Eva said no more, trying to mask her nervousness as they reached the end of the hall and went into a room. 

“This is rather big.” there was an equipment room, a bed and sterile supply along with a pharmacy of sorts set into the wall. The room was surrounded by plexiglas barriers and a few desks stood on the other side which made both of them think of an operating theater or precaution room. 

“Welcome to you both,” a man came in dressed in green scrubs holding a file. “I’m Jansen.” he shook both their hands. Jansen had a dull mossy green tint to his skin and bright pink eyes which made Eva feel a little strange inside. 

“Would you mind telling us what this is all about?” the Doctor said sharply. “She’s fine and doesn’t need any of your services!” 

“I am aware of this, Doctor. Eva here can give us more information on the Titan embryo. Allow me to start at the beginning.” Jansen gestured for them to sit on the bed while he drew up a chair. 

“This will be interesting.” the medium assumed. 

“I assure you it is. A few months ago the Titan shuttle came by on a tour and tried to drum up support for the embryo maturation program,” Jansen began. “they found several volunteers, about 8 or so in this city. Everything went great for about two or three months then the volunteers began getting sick. It was a genetic mutation in the Titan DNA which did not mesh well with ours. We lost 2 volunteers due to the mutations and the rest are in the hospital next door barely clinging to life as their DNA is torn apart.” 

“So how did you find out that I’m a volunteer?” 

Jansen showed her a tablet with all her biological data on it. “The embryo itself sends us periodic updates over the Titan wavelength we are able to receive. As you can see the embryo has access to your blood and what is noteworthy is that you have not had any problems. Can you estimate when you were inseminated?” 

“Um, I can ballpark it. We met Aaron on Nerva II…I’m guessing about six months now. Does that sound right, Doctor?” 

“Yes. It’s been a year since you started traveling with me,” he backed her up. “time flies.” 

“It certainly does,” Jansen grinned. “I think that now we have you I would like to run some tests and see what went wrong exactly. We can take your information and make guidelines so the whole Titan embryo program isn’t speculation.” 

“The Titan people didn’t give you any medical guidelines or anything like that?” the Doctor was in disbelief. “How do they expect you to watch the women in case something happens to them?” 

Jansen shook his head. “I don’t think they expected something like this to happen, Doctor. It’s Titan arrogance clearly. We were looking for a way out of this when the biodata on Eva here showed up a few hours ago and we decided to call you both in.” 

“I’m glad to help you guys out,” Eva spoke up. “I was inseminated months ago and I feel great so let’s get down to business. What have you got on the agenda as far as tests go?” 

“Can I see the information on the cases?” the Doctor demanded. Jansen handed him the tablet, the Doctor sat down on the recliner in the corner and began to go through them. 

“What I want to do today Eva is an ultrasound, physical exam, some bloodwork and a few other exams that you will never have heard of. I’d like to finish with a capsule study.” 

“Endo study?” 

“No, a capsule study,” Jansen handed her a set of scrubs for her to change into. “what I intend to do is get into a capsule, shrink it down then you will inject it into your bloodstream so I can observe in real time how your embryo is doing.” 

The Doctor looked up in interest. “As long as the Doctor goes along with you,” the medium grinned. “or else he’ll just get bored.” 

“Of course! He’ll be good company,” Jansen told her. Eva grinned and went to the bathroom to change. 

The Doctor walked up to Jansen. “Just between you and me how does she look already?” 

“She should be showing a little evidence that she’s carrying a Titan embryo. The other women had little swellings in their figures by now.” 

“We were told her figure wouldn’t change at all.” 

Jansen sighed. “This is still a new and emerging technology, Doctor. From the small group that had already had their embryos the guidelines have changed since then. The new normal as it were is insemination, spend up to 6 months with no change as the organs matured then the embryo grows a little bigger. Right now what we’re seeing is women with six months of maturation down have reported their embryos had gotten bigger but they are still embryos.” 

“How’s that possible?” the Doctor furrowed his brow; it didn’t add up to him at all. 

“They become bigger embryos and they don’t resemble humans at all,” Jansen explained. “once we get inside her you’ll see. Eva will be getting bigger any minute it seems like.” 

“Yes. Actually you would come here,” Eva came back into the room, her expression a bit stony as Jansen motioned her onto the bed. “I was telling the Doctor here that we’ve had trouble accurately tracking the embryos’ intrauterine growth. It was thought that they didn’t get bigger inside but they actually do.” 

Jansen turned on the ultrasound machine while the Doctor read Eva’s look then saw that her scrub shirt was starting to ride a bit high and he spied a distinct shadow which told him all he needed to know. “I think she knows that without us telling her.” he went back to the recliner and picked up the tablet again. 

“You do know?” in response Eva pulled up her shirt. Instead of her slender belly like before she had swelled up some and developed a small round curve at her waist. “You know now actually.” he lubed up her belly, put the probe on it then began to look around. The medium watched the monitor closely as the probe slid around on top of her skin. 

“Well, now it can move around and it won’t hurt,” Jansen told her. “your little bump is maybe about 18 weeks which still means you can get away with wearing your old clothes.” 

“That’s neither here nor there,” she would have to alter her jeans a little bit. “I’ve got this three inch bump at my waist which is more than enough for someone to make fun of later on. I was all right being pregnant without any physical reminders so I’m kinda let down.” 

“That’s all right. Just think; you won’t have any other symptoms. Your hormones won’t fluctuate, you won’t be voiding your bladder as much if you were carrying a human. The list of benefits does go on and this can be the biggest you get so I would call it a win, wouldn’t you?” 

“True,” Eva allowed. “I’ve been pregnant before so I know what’s a privilege to miss out on. So why does it get bigger and still look like an embryo?” 

“Titan technology,” Jansen slid the probe down more. “it’s not allowed to take its final form until it’s born. Once it is removed the absence of human hCG in the embryo itself signals the growth spurt. We used to think that you had to get it removed as soon as the embryo was ready to grow but further study says once the hCG is purged then the spurt starts up.” 

“So it won’t rip through me like a cheap suit?” 

“Exactly. It looks very normal in there; your only change is that you might find it a bit harder to move around but it won’t be much.” Jansen turned off the ultrasound machine. 

“So what’s next?” 

“A simple physical exam. If you don’t mind..” Jansen drew the privacy curtain and put the bed back down. Eva pulled off her pants, lay flat on the bed, happy that they didn’t make her put her legs up like on earth. Standing over her, Jansen inserted two fingers into her then pressed down on either side to feel where her ovaries were and told her they felt normal. The medium watched as Jansen put his hands on the sides of her bump then began to to palpate her uterus to check how big it actually was. 

“Looks like half a soccer ball got lodged in there,” he teased Eva. “you’ll have some trouble if your clothes are formfitting but other than that I wouldn’t get worried about it.” 

“I’m not that vain. Anyway I think I won’t be wearing any ballgowns anytime soon.” she put her pants back on as Jansen drew back the curtain. The Doctor didn’t even look up, very engrossed in his reading while Jansen retrieved an item from the equipment room and walked back to Eva’s bedside. 

“I want to monitor the embryo’s heartbeat so I can ascertain the normal range of BPM for it,” Jansen put a new layer of gel around the high point of Eva’s bump just at her waist then draped a thick black sensor over it. “this will record it and determine the base range by averaging it. You only need to wear this for about five minutes for efficiency.” 

“Then after that you guys go inside me?” the Doctor raised an eyebrow but continued reading. 

“Yes we do. It should look like an embryo but bigger. We haven’t done this with any other patient before; they’ve all been too sick.” 

“So you’ll see my DNA integrating with the embryo’s and figure out what’s wrong in the others?” 

“No, we’ll see the embryonic DNA and find out where and how the mutations occur.” 

**

The Doctor had finished reading the file, handing the tablet back to Jansen. “Interesting reading; the defects that sprang up were indeed fascinating but I’d be more interested in helping to prevent this from happening again.” 

Jansen turned off the tablet and smiled. “Do you have any questions, Doctor?” 

“Have you ever had any instances where someone put a hand on a pelvis containing the embryo and it glowed?” they walked to the bank of monitors which were keeping track of Eva’s vital signs. The medium was bored so she started dozing off on the bed. 

“That has happened once or twice. It appears it’s the embryo’s preferred person. Somehow they can tell who will help them and they show preference by that means. They will often increase in physical activity as well.” Jansen pressed a code on a door and it slid open neatly. The capsule, a white structure sat in the middle of the room while a shrink ray towered over it. 

“Makes sense,” the Doctor allowed. “it’s been doing that a lot lately.” 

“It knew it was going to grow and got excited about it. Now we need to outfit our little expedition,” Jansen put on a wristwatch that had Eva’s vital signs on it, the Doctor got one as well, then they took a few portable cameras to document what was going on. 

The Doctor called Eva into the room, seeing a small table with a syringe and a vial lying nearby. He could easily guess that she was supposed to inject herself with whatever was in the vial. The Doctor could see the big X on the floor for obvious reasons then turned to his friend and lover. “We need to enter your bloodstream. When this capsule is shrunk down all the way it will be in the center of this X on the floor. You need to pick it up and put it in the syringe here. It’s already filled with the medicine I need you to give yourself.” he adjusted his sonic screwdriver while Janson stood by. 

“What will I be giving myself?” she stood at the little table with the vial and syringe lying there. 

“It’s a mild sedative. When we’ve done this before usually our patients get a last minute attack of anxiety and make things harder for us. Once we’re inside we need you as calm as can be so this medicine will guarantee we have an easier time. We will be taking a few cameras with us you can access on the laptop if you feel up to it. On the other hand you might be too sleepy to do anything.” Jansen replied as he got into the capsule. 

“We will get some video of what the embryo looks like for you,” the Doctor clasped her shoulder. “are we ready, Jansen?” 

“We are, Doctor.” 

“Now,” he gave Eva a long hard look. “we need to be as close to your lady bits as possible. We only have about an hour before we return to normal size,” handing her an earpiece Eva obediently put it in. “stay in touch with us. You may not want to keep your eyes open so keep your ears open instead.” 

“I’ll do intramuscular right near my hip so I can get you halfway there.” she was afraid to ask how they would manage to escape the confines of her body so she let it alone. 

“Good girl. Stay as calm as you can. Remember, the more your blood circulates the further we get from our goal,” the Doctor gave her cheek a peck then went over to the capsule. “don’t be afraid; we’re on the job!” 

The shrink ray did its work; a tiny capsule was right where the Doctor said it would be. Eva fetched it with tweezers, dumped it into the syringe full of sedative and pulled up the side of her shirt. She felt her little bump, determining where it lay, then injected directly next to it. The medium walked out into the exam room, taking a packaged cannula and attaching it to the oxygen nozzle behind the bed. Sedatives always ran the risk of decreasing respirations so Eva wanted to be prepared. She didn’t turn the valve on yet, knowing that the Doctor and Jansen were monitoring her vital signs; she wasn’t going to do anything without their OK. 

**

Jansen and the Doctor got their bearings inside the capsule, seeing blood cells going by leisurely. The Doctor checked his watch. “She spent about 30 seconds getting us in. Not enough time for the blood cells to slow down yet.” 

Jansen started the clock. “It will be about a minute before the sedative takes effect. Did you give her the earpiece so she can stay in touch with us?” 

“Is it my first day? Of course I did!” the faint beating of Eva’s heart sounded in the background while the two waited. 

“You’d think I was waiting for an endoscopy,” Eva lay down on the bed with a little yawn. “no doctor except inside me!” she had to laugh. “oh!” her vision went blurry. “stuff hits me like propofol does..” she closed her eyes, lying on her right side. 

“The stuff’s affecting her now,” the Doctor reported as Jansen took the driver’s seat. “her blood should be slowing down some.” 

“Roger that,” Jansen began to drive. “stuff’s working well. Look at that shadow right up there; any idea where she injected us?” 

“She said she was going to get us as close to possible,” the Doctor could see a great big shadow looming up; he knew that was the embryo’s hideout for the foreseeable future. “look at that.” 

“There’s an artery going down in the right inguinal region that should be able to get us in.” they went down to get a closer look. The dark colored artery did go all the way down but they were only able to see a section of it. “She’s probably lying on her side; can you get her to move?” 

“Eva, lie faceup,” the Doctor ordered. The medium gave a little start at hearing her name. Opening up her eyes a little bit she remembered where she was and why she was there so she obeyed the Doctor, turning from her right side so she lay supine. “are you watching us on the monitor, girl? This is fascinating!” he got no reply. “That’s Eva for you, she always sleeps through everything interesting going on around her!” 

“I can see now, thanks, Doctor,” Jansen got into the artery. “so how long have you two been a couple?” he thought he’d make small talk. 

“I wasn’t aware my personal life was any interest,” the Doctor shut him down. “Do you have an average calculation of how long a woman has stayed pregnant with these embryos?” 

“I think the long rate is about two years.” 

“It’s been only six months so she could spend a year and six months looking like she does now? Why is the maturation rate so slow?” 

Jansen piloted the capsule up into the winding maze of arteries, checking the readout of their location to make sure he was in the right one. “Titan technology is a bit primitive in some respects. They excel in some areas like disease but are slow to the game on reproduction. Obviously they don’t reproduce like humans do; they grow them in a lab. They do a great job building the embryo but they need a volunteer to grow it the rest of the way. They take six months for organs to mature and another year and a half for the organs to start to work. That’s why Eva’s grown a bit-the organs are starting to function fully now.” 

The Doctor sat in the chair, gazing at the watch with Eva’s vitals on it. “Why don’t they just take the women and have them grow their young like the humans do?” 

“Conceit,” Jansen grinned. “when the Titans introduced their technology for reproduction I actually got thrown out for asking too many questions. They don’t want to be seen as carriers like humans or any other species so they pretend they’re better than everyone by farming out their embryos for volunteers. From what I can gather, Doctor, they inject their teenagers with a libido suppressing drug which lasts them the rest of their lives.” 

“Yes.. I remember on the last Alpha Centauri summit the Titans were rather a stuck up lot,” the Doctor remarked as the artery flew by. “pretending they were better than everyone else.” 

“They have that reputation. I think we’ve made it into the uterus.” Jansen declared, circling the capsule around so they could get a glimpse of the embryo. 

It was definitely on the big side; an immature humanoid with no hands or feet but tentacles instead, making the Doctor think that Eva would like that in her more raunchy moods. At the very top there was more light; that was where the head was sticking up currently. All around the perimeter of Eva’s placental membrane there was what looked like microscopic white flowers like the embryo was in a meadow or something. 

“That’s Titan engineering for you,” Jansen watched the Doctor take video. “those little flowerlike projections don’t do a thing. It’s their vanity, trying to make reproduction a sacred thing when they don’t believe it themselves.” the embryo twitched and moved, shifting around a little bit. 

“They’re full of hubris!” the Doctor snorted. “Let’s get closer in there; I can see the cord over on that side.” 

“Me too.” Jansen agreed, heading for the object. The Doctor was looking on in wonderment at what Eva’s body was helping to generate; a real little life. He’d known for awhile but when he realized Eva was pregnant initially he’d been extremely resistant to the idea. It had taken him some time to get used to it then when Eva reasserted her right to do what she wanted and it wasn’t hurting her he calmed down. 

“One last thing I don’t quite understand; it’s big enough to give actual birth to so why doesn’t Eva’s body go into labor and deliver it naturally like she would if it was a human? Is it because the Titans like pretending birth is beneath them?” 

“You’ve hit the nail on the head, Doctor. Yeah, they like to pretend a volunteer expelling a life through a dirty orifice is beneath them,” Jansen found his watch beeping. “Eva’s oxygen levels are dropping a little. She’d better put a cannula on.” 

“I’ll see to her. Eva, put the cannula on-your oxygen levels are going down.” the Doctor’s voice in her ear told her. Eva blinked awake for a moment, a little slow to understand what the Doctor meant because of the drugs. Dazed, she reached up for the cannula, turned the valve releasing the oxygen, then put the cannula on. The medium checked to make sure the pressure was in the green zone then sighed, closing her eyes and passing back out. 

“She’s done it,” the levels stabilized. “the neat thing about these guys is when their host is in distress or sick or some kind they hibernate instead of a miscarriage or preterm labor.” 

“I know. Now when it’s time for her to have it removed is surgery really the only way or can she expel it naturally?” 

Jansen gave him a cryptic smile. “I technically shouldn’t be telling you this, Doctor but I think I will..,” he winked. “the Titans will pretend that they are holier than thou, they prefer surgery as opposed to actual dirty work of labor and birth but we’ve had a few volunteers that couldn’t make it to the surgery center on time and gave birth normally. There was no issue whatsover and they still look like this when they’re born.” 

“You’re dispelling a lot of preconceived notions. I like the truth more than fanciful thinking,” the Doctor filed the information away as Jansen took them into the cord itself then found where the DNA was rearranging itself. “DNA normally does that.” 

“Yes and we want to make sure it continues to do it safely,” Jansen activated a sensor on top of the capsule. “this is our most advanced DNA mapping technology,” he explained. “we can’t encode an entire DNA strand but we’re able to map out the most likely spots where the mutations happen so we can prevent them.” 

“I admire the tenacity,” the Doctor had doubts they’d ever be able to stop mutations in DNA but he didn’t say it. “how long have we got now?” 

“About 20 minutes. The mapper will need at least two more in order to ensure accuracy.” 

In front of them the embryo stirred, the big head moved back and forth, the big black eyes not seeing a thing. It moved its tentacles up like it was stretching out then pushed hard, making an indent on the uterine wall. 

Eva was roused from her sleep by the movement, grunting a bit as another one followed. She glanced down to see her belly was slightly raised and rounded as opposed to the morning when it had been flat then remembered where she was. The embryo jumped but this time it didn’t hurt her at all it was just annoying. She put a hand on the bump, muttering, “Calm down in there all right?” 

The Doctor heard her mutter faintly; the light from above petered out then came back as she removed her hand. Her words seemed to be what the embryo wanted as it stopped all activity, hanging motionless like before. “It must have gone back to sleep again.” 

“Mothers, huh?” Jansen had all his information so he turned off the mapper. “We’ve got time enough to get out of here.” he aimed the capsule down, coming out of the end of the cord then went all the way down to the bottom. Both of them could see the neck of the uterus, all sealed off against intruders but Jansen wiggled the capsule through a microscopic hole and they landed on the other side. 

“Now is where we turn this into an all terrain vehicle!” the Doctor saw four wheels sprout out, making him think of a James Bond movie for a second, recognizing where they were. 

“We’re inside her birth canal! I suppose this is the safest route; she’s too drugged to do much right now and her reaction time is slow.” he saw the wisdom in Jansen’s thinking. The Doctor observed Jansen driving wildly out to Eva’s vulva, going right into the fabric of her pants as the counter started going down, ticking off the final minute until they turned back into full size. Jansen pressed a button, the capsule disappeared and reappeared in the room full size again. 

The Doctor opened up the door and stepped out, stretching. “Homing beacon designed to get you back here before time ran out! Nice touch, Jansen!” 

“Why thank you, Doctor!” Jansen took the camera, attached it to the laptop and began downloading everything. The Doctor saved the video footage he wanted to his phone to impress Eva with later then both of them went out to the patient room. 

Eva was lying faceup and she was just starting to come around from the drug when they walked into her sight. She started, her senses dulled by the sedative, but gradually recognition set in. The Doctor pressed his hand to her upper left shoulder as she closed her eyes, hearing him talk but nothing was sticking in her brain. “Her oxygen levels are steady now, I’m going to take her back to the ship.” 

“Just keep a close eye on her,” Jansen warned him. “she’ll be asleep for at least another hour.” 

“I have her vital signs keyed into this,” the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. “it goes off when they plummet or go too high.” 

“I have heard of these devices only you possess. Where do you get them?” 

“The TARDIS or my ship gives them to me,” the Doctor put Eva’s clothes into a bag which he hung from his wrist. “thankfully she doesn’t weigh very much so I can pick her up.” he did so, asking Jansen if he needed the scrubs back. 

“Those are actually paper scrubs so you can get rid of them when you want to. Good luck, Doctor.” 

“Good luck to you as well.” the Doctor took Eva back into the TARDIS. 

**

Once the TARDIS had departed from the planet the Doctor busied himself, lying Eva on a recliner up on the catwalk then got to work repairing the little things that were wrong with the console. He could not figure out why the telepathic circuits had given Eva a shock so he had to write it off as a freak occurrence. Eva bore the TARDIS no ill will for what happened to her, saying shit happened. 

With his mind buzzing from what he had learned about the people of Titan the Doctor reached a stopping point in his repairs, grabbed a pen, his diary then began to write. He would need to repeat all of what he learned to Eva when she woke up of course and it helped to have a script handy so he would remember all that needed to be said. 

The pictures and video would go a long way to helping him understand exactly what was going on underneath Eva’s flesh as well, he thought. The Doctor was still under the spell of the magnificent picture that he had taken and what it clearly represented. 

Eva stirred, opening up her eyes while the Doctor snapped shut his diary, going up to check on her. The medium felt punch drunk; like she could remember some of the day but not all of it. She reached in her ear, thinking that there was something in there but the Doctor had removed her earpiece before they left. Everything seemed to be in order with her, she idly let her hand slide down as she took mental note of her body. The Doctor knew exactly what she was doing then watched very intently as her hand slid over the small bump at her waist. 

The medium glanced down, thinking she hadn’t gained weight so what was going on down there? A vague memory drifted back, of her changing clothes, lifting her shirt up in the mirror and then her figure swelled up a bit. It was three inches round at her waist, tapering down into a nice curve then ran down the rest of her slightly thickened figure. 

“We can’t deny the fact that there’s something inside you anymore,” the Doctor came up and sat near her. “we were summoned to a planet to help with the Titan volunteer situation. Turns out the Titans don’t have very good technology to keep up.” 

“What did you learn, Doctor?” 

“A great deal. Six months in you start looking like this,” he gestured to her belly. “another year and six months later you can either have surgery as the Titans want or you can have it naturally. These Titans are hoity toity people who pretend they have the immaculate conception if you will.” 

“Oh, snobs! They don’t want others to think that volunteers do such things like give birth, the horror!” 

The Doctor laughed, his eyes cutting to her belly. “While I was inside you I took a few images that really spoke to me,” he showed her the embryo on his phone. “this is a much higher resolution than you would get from the grainy ultrasound images.” 

Eva was captivated by them and the video the Doctor caught as the embryo moved. “Wow! I can’t believe that’s all inside me right now. I might be irritated that I have a little belly but it doesn’t matter really as long as its healthy in there.” 

“Exactly what I was thinking. Surgery is optional and I think it should be last resort in this case. You’re the only human who is pregnant with a Titan embryo and you are doing exceptionally well. It’s got tentacles in there instead of limbs so you might be feeling very strange things.” 

“Oh I love tentacles,” Eva winked. “did you two have any trouble?” 

“Not at all,” Eva’s phone buzzed. “your embryo behaved itself after you told it off for moving too much. So where do you want to head to next?” 

“Well, I hate to say it but I think I have to head home, Doctor. I just got a text.” she frowned. 

“Why do you say that?” 

“Because the entire family wants to be together this Easter to celebrate vaccines and the end of virus mania and I don’t wanna go.” 

“Oh come on then! It’s your family; when are you going to see them again!” the Doctor was adamant, family first. 

“They’re not your family, Doctor! Oh shit!” Eva put a hand to her belly, the color draining from her face. 

“What is it? Are you in pain?” 

“No! I’m visibly pregnant now-what the hell are they going to say to me?!” the medium stood up and went over to the console. “I’m going to have to opt out; they can’t see me like this!” 

“Would you relax girl, adopt a disguise instead! I’ve got options in the wardrobe that would work!” the Doctor followed her. 

“I can’t do it, Doctor! The little guy will be a lot more active now and I’ll be caught off guard by the movement which will tell my predatory family that something’s up! I’m not going!” 

“Eva, listen to me. I know your family is bad but it’s the only one that you’ve got. They don’t ask you for much, do they?” 

“You’ve never seen them in person so you don’t know! If you think I’m going to take even half an hour of their snobbery and thinly veiled contempt than you’re wrong! Doctor, believe me!” Eva took his hands in hers. “They’re toxic nasty people who shit on me all the time because I’m not married and don’t have a family.” 

“You can just pretend!” 

“No; they’ll start making up lies. I can’t be exposed to that anymore, Doctor. I’ve reached my limit.” 

“All right, all right!” the Doctor looked her right in the eye. “How can I help?” 

“You’re seriously asking? The only way I’d be able to stand it is if someone else was with me and defend me from them. It sounds like you’re volunteering.” 

“Oh no; I don’t get involved in family-” 

“Look, we’ve already had sex quite a bit. If you’re worried about your image we can adopt a disguise.” she mocked. Eva felt a sharp rap inside so she put her hand down and smiled. “My embryo is moving again.” the Doctor reached down then smiled at Eva. 

“It’s telling you what to do as well.” 

“Oh, shut up!” she pulled up her shirt and observed a mighty kick indentation. “Why am I wearing paper?”


	16. Sliders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few more minutes passed. The Doctor tried to open the doors but along with no power the Sliders had locked the door as well, trapping him inside. He went and sat down on the console room floor, trying to regulate his breathing but it was no use. Huddling into his jacket more, the Doctor’s breath condensed in the air as he exhaled. “The lightheadedness is getting worse,” he noted to himself. “Eva… I hope you’re… still alive…” his eyes closed and he slumped over on his side.

Sliders

“Well, I don’t know about this,” Eva straightened her shirt collar, coming out from her room to the TARDIS console. “those assholes will start denigrating me the second they see me, Doctor. Any way I can change your mind and we can just fly away from here altogether?” 

Eva was worrying too much again. The Doctor kept silent as he snapped his fingers to open up the doors. The medium was looking good in a pink button up shirt, a white t-shirt and her coral colored jeans. Sneakers adorned her feet, she wore a crystal necklace, her earrings were of clear quartz crystal, and her makeup was very conservative. Eva was clearly feeling springtime vibes; she had on pastel purple and pink on her lids and wore a dark pink lipstick. 

The one thing which should have been noticeable but wasn’t was her little embryo belly; that had been concealed away. “Did you hide it?” she just looked a little more bulky than usual but not by much. 

“Less fodder for the family. I found a little padding in the wardrobe,” Eva tucked her phone in her jeans pocket, put on her black leather jacket then faced the open doors. “all I can say now is pray for me.” 

“You don’t need it. Go now and get it over with.” the Doctor commanded her brusquely. 

“Yes, the sooner I can go the sooner I can leave. I’ll try not to be so emotionally triggered. I’ll be back soon if history repeats itself.” Eva disappeared out the doors, putting on her aviator sunglasses in the light. 

“Needless worrying!” the Doctor spoke to himself, sitting in a chair and picking up his guitar. “She’s got nothing to upset herself over!” 

Eva walked to the front door of her parents’ house, knocked twice then let herself in. Her father was in the kitchen setting the oven to work and her mother was gossiping on the phone to one of her church group members. The two of them smiled to see their daughter walk in after so long, her mom hanging up and giving her a hug. 

“Pleased to see you, dear!” Eva’s mother, Lila Barnes, exclaimed. “How have you been doing lately?” 

“Thanks, Mom,” Eva replied. Lila had the dark brown hair like Eva did and the same complexion, yet Lila had more freckles than Eva thought possible on a human being. “I’ve been catching up on my sleep since all this pandemic bullshit is over.” 

“You poor thing,” Lila tutted, steering her over to the kitchen island to sit down. “want a drink?” 

Eva had to think about that for a minute; nobody had told her it wasn’t OK to drink with an embryo but she’d drunk before a little bit and it didn’t seem to mind. “OK, hit me with whatever you got. I’m not fussy.” 

Eva’s father, Micah, gave his daughter some sparkling cider with a hearty smile. The medium had inherited his dark eyes, practical demeanor and tough as nails personality. Micah was no nonsense, held everyone to a standard and Eva did the same. There was a lot of pride in Micah’s expression; he had helped her get into nursing school, enlightened her on his life experience so she could learn valuable lessons. Lila did that as well though Eva’s mother tended to be dramatic on some occasions. 

At the family lunch, Eva eyed with discontent her brothers’ families. Both of them had married the princess types, an extraordinarily bad combination, her nieces and nephews were spoiled rotten little brats which her mother just fawned over. Eva managed to dominate the conversation, having learned from the Doctor’s assertiveness that she better get the things she wanted to say over first or she’d never get the chance. 

Sure enough her brothers piled on with their rhetoric, saying all the things she expected them to; how life was so great with kids, etc etc, but to Eva’s delight they were pretty much done with lunch by that time. In order to get a little peace Eva loaded the dishwasher with her mother helping her. 

“You don’t need to do that, sweetheart!” Lila chirped, taking the glassware off the counter and putting it into the sink. “Go and enjoy your brothers and they’re right; you are missing out on family life the longer you wait around!” 

Eva felt like she’d been punched. What would the Doctor do? He’d turn and sling the words back at her. The medium couldn’t do that at work where there was a hierarchy but she was going to start holding her mother responsible for her words. “What, so I can be like them?” she hissed, clinking the silverware together. “Mom, I don’t want a family and I don’t need you to start harping on me like that so push off already!” 

“Don’t speak to your mother like that!” Lila reproved, taking the silverware and putting it into the plastic basket in the dishwasher. 

“Oh shut up!” Eva glared, slamming the dishwasher door shut and turning it on. “I am a nurse, I chose to dedicate my life to my career. I don’t want a family! Especially not after watching both my brothers marry spoiled brats and having little snot nosed animals for kids!” 

There was a collective silence in the room; Eva realized her voice was very loud and very angry. Micah called her in to explain herself in front of everyone. With her cheeks flushing in embarrassment Eva stood at the foot of the table as the nieces and nephews were dismissed. The atmosphere was heavy as she was told to sit but declined. 

“I don’t think I’ll be staying here very long anyway. So I’m on trial for telling the absolute truth.” she said defiantly. “This was a long time coming-and you wonder why I’m not at any family gatherings.” 

“Young lady you need to explain yourself and your attitude,” Micah told her. “you know what a family gathering is for. We do not need controversy here.” 

“Well, you’re gonna get a tirade and I’m only going to say it once!” Eva’s eyes flashed dangerously. “You’re disappointed in both of my brothers for marrying the two princesses here and you hate your grandkids because they’re little animals who don’t know how to respect their elders! They need their asses slapped in the worst way because they mouth off and nobody does anything! I don’t like coming to these gatherings because I ALWAYS hear how GREAT family life is and I’m missing out on it! If you think I miss having my own free will, time to spend as I want, and my own MONEY for anything I want, you’re sadly mistaken! I left the hospital a year ago and I’ve been an LPN for an old man who travels a lot and treats me nicely.” 

“My sister’s got a sugar daddy,” one of her brothers sniggered. Eva reached out and punched him, giving him a black eye. “you bitch!” 

“Better bitch than a nutless wonder the way you seem to be!” she shot back. “I catch anyone insulting my modesty and private life again I’ll do worse than punch you. Now, I am estranging myself from this hellhole family until you all get your shit together and treat me the way I deserve. Have a nice fucking life!” Eva got into her jacket and left the house. 

She got halfway down the flagstone pathway when she heard a shout. Micah had left the house and was coming down to see her. Defensively she stood away from him, still poised to walk back to the TARDIS as Micah caught up to her. 

“Eva, you said everything that I’ve been thinking of for the past few years,” he told her seriously. “I know you have a volcanic temper and a slow burning fuse and the family dynamics just set you off.” 

“Wow, could my dad be validating my concerns or are you just out here because Mom sent you?” she demanded. 

“No, I’m here of my own free will. Look, we can’t interfere with your brothers’ lives, they made their choices.” 

“Then why does everyone interfere with mine? You know, Dad, how much I’ve had to overcome and I never get any credit for it! It’s all them and their whiny brats!” Eva’s eyes filled up. “Is it too much to ask to pay attention to me and ask me about my life for a change? Why am I the neglected one?” 

“We never meant to make you feel that way, sweetheart,” Micah’s gaze softened, giving her a hug. “families take more time and attention, yes, but you don’t have to estrange yourself completely. How about a compromise?” 

Eva melted into her father’s arms just like she used to when she was a little girl. He’d always made her feel safe and secure from the big bad world; that old power was still there. At least he still cared about her. “What kind of compromise?” 

“How about instead of a family gathering on a holiday we invite you around the day before?” he suggested. “your brothers are self centered assholes yes but we need to see you too. Remember, they’re using the family card because they know it sets you off. They never grew up honestly. I wonder if they’re jealous of you because you travel and get to see the world while they’re shackled to the brats they sired.” 

“Could be. They could make more of an effort to connect with me on different subjects you know.” they pulled apart. “Your Dad hugs are something special-you still got it.” 

“Thanks, honey. We’ll text you before the holidays after summertime and see what happens. Do you really have to go?” 

“I think I should. My patient dropped me off and I need to go and see how he’s doing.” 

“OK, I don’t want to prevent you from doing your job. Excuse me while I read your brothers the riot act. You should have given him two black eyes the way he was treating you.” 

Eva laughed. “I left the other eye for you if you wanted it.” she said goodbye to her father and walked down the block towards the TARDIS. 

**

The Doctor stood up when Eva re-entered the TARDIS. He watched her closely, hanging up his guitar and turning off the amp. Eva sat down in a chair near him, putting one hand up to her face, looking like she’d just fought a clutch of Cybermen. The medium sat motionless for several minutes, collecting her thoughts, while the Doctor checked a monitor. 

“Well, that was a disaster for me,” she said finally. “I called out my family on their bullshit, Doctor.” 

“Didn’t go over well I’m sure.” he frowned, checking a readout. 

“Nope. I said what needed to be said and I’m not sorry,” Eva stood up, swaying a little as the TARDIS sounded an alarm. “only my dad came out to give some validation to my concerns.” 

“There’s a power fluctuation the next town over,” the Doctor touched the alert icon and saw it was emitting from a power substation. “high voltage lines, cell phone towers nearby. It might be interesting.” 

“Well, I’m up for a game of interesting,” Eva grinned. The power in the TARDIS went out then came back on. “where are we headed, Doctor?” 

He showed her the screen. “Heading down to the outskirts of Surrey where they have towers and electrical pylons. Hang on to your hat!” he pulled the switch and the TARDIS dematerialized. Eva, happy that they were going away from her family, went to her room, hitched up her shirt, then pulled out the padding she’d worn over the lump in her figure. It had miraculously escaped anyone’s notice which made her a little happier. Eva smoothed her hand over the little lump, admiring it for a moment before covering it back up with her t-shirt and button up shirt. 

“OK, now I’m ready!” she announced, walking back into the console room with her bump slightly jutting out. It wasn’t noticeable if she buttoned up her jacket but it might be a little warm for that. 

“Here we go!” the Doctor opened up the doors, stepping out into the sunshine. He held up his sonic sunglasses, putting them on. “The fluctuation is coming from that direction!” with Eva in tow the Doctor led on, striding over the grassy knoll, right over to a substation complete with chain link fence and barbed wire at the top. A quick buzz with the sonic and the chain link fence popped open. Without a doubt in his mind the Doctor entered the fenced in area, scouting out the pylons which buzzed and crackled with electricity running through them. “It’s coming from that one over there!” 

“What are you two doing in here without hard hats!” a worker shouted, scowling angrily. 

The Doctor flashed his psychic paper. “We’re here investigating a problem with the power; we’re energy auditors.” 

“I see,” the worker handed it back. “my name’s Jim and I’m glad you’re here finally. There’s been weird power surges and drains; nobody can figure it out.” 

“Is there a particular area that it happens more to?” 

“We’re in the area right now,” Jim pointed upwards. “the weird thing is it happens all the time. We experience a little power drain in the evenings when people get home from work and use their electricity then but this is so random we can’t trace the source of it all.” 

“What about in the early morning hours, any drains then?” the Doctor peered out at the lines as the sunshine radiated down on them. It really was a picturesque spring morning, Eva smiled as the birds flew overhead. 

“Yes. Either there’s a lot of people sleepwalking and using the appliances at weird hours or there’s something more than that going on. The rest of the substation checks out fine-there have been no incidents at all.” Jim informed them, wiping a bit of sweat off his brow. He’d been there since 6 AM that morning and was already starting to get a little sunburn. 

“No power surge backlash? Have there been any fried circuits or downed lines?” 

“None at all.” 

“Mysterious,” the Doctor pursed his lips. “very mysterious.” he walked away without saying goodbye which Eva did and promised to call if they found anything. 

“What are you thinking now, Doctor?” he put the chain link fence back then started walking to a concrete platform where a cell phone tower was standing. 

“What tower is this? Which network does it run?” 

“This is Starpoint communications. I have them as my service.” their service was excellent, even intergalactic wise, she thought to herself with a snigger. 

“I want you to run a signal strength test on your phone,” he commanded. “there should be an app on your phone for that somewhere.” 

“I often run it yes,” Eva opened up the app and ran the test. “signal is about 20 percent which doesn’t make any sense at all. I’m right here underneath the damn tower.” 

“Run it again.” the Doctor leaned down to look at her phone as Eva tested it again. 

“Now it’s jumped to about 90 percent! That’s not right!” she closed the app and put her phone back in her pocket, watching the Doctor stand on a rock outcrop and survey the meadow that ran around the substation and cell phone tower. A gust of wind came up, making his black jacket with the red lining flap like a bird for a minute. 

“It would take thousands of people all operating at peak time to produce such a drain as that,” the Doctor spread out his arms at his sides. “what we’re dealing with is an alien force which drains energy and wifi signals as fast as they can get it.” 

“Why both?” they started tramping back to the TARDIS. 

“Why not? I need to consult the TARDIS databank on electrical or energy draining creatures before we go any further.” the Doctor jumped over a mud mound as Eva sidestepped it. Springtime was mud season and Eva was always extra careful, not wanting to ruin her clothes. 

“So energy vampires are sucking us dry.. I’ve heard of such a thing but I thought it was humans they preyed upon.” Eva watched a rabbit hop by as a skunk waddled into a creek. The Doctor stepped on stones as a stream was in their way, not waiting to see if Eva made it across. 

“Energy vampires come in every form known to human or alienkind, Eva,” the Doctor unlocked the TARDIS and burst forth, lunging for a monitor and typing in a search query on the databanks. “ever since the dawn of time if there’s been energy there’s been something leeching off of it.” his fingers flew as he pressed he keys then smacked the enter button. 

“The positive and the negative.” Eva shut the doors, walking over to him and peering over his shoulder while he worked. 

“Exactly so! Positive and negative terminals like batteries...” the Doctor typed in more search terms, fingers flying, while Eva leaned on one guardrail and looked amused by his determination. 

The entire TARDIS went dark for a moment, the cloister bell sounded, causing Eva to look up at the time rotor columns in concern. “I’d guess that the TARDIS itself is feeling the strain of this situation, Doctor. She is buzzing with energy after all.” 

“So it seems,” the Doctor agreed. “I have it! They’re called Sliders-beings from different dimensions which go through energy and wifi signals, draining everything in sight.” 

“Anything else?” 

“The TARDIS databank doesn’t have anything other than a name. Now I will try to triangulate the places that are the most affected by the surges and power drains on one area.” he pressed a few keys then came up with a name. “We need to head into the north side of London. It seems there are a lot of complaints from that area.” he pulled the switch. 

“Don’t you wish we could just track aliens based on complaints?” Eva remarked as the Doctor yanked the switch back up then snapped his fingers to open the doors. A bright Easter afternoon greeted them; Eva pulled out her aviator sunglasses and put them on, waiting for the Doctor who put on his sonic sunglasses, shut and locked the TARDIS then they started on. 

“Humans complain about everything,” he told her as they left. “99% of the time it’s nothing. If the Daleks got into London then we’d have significant cause to stop them. But if it’s just a small alien race and you’re whining because he looked up your skirt that’s nothing at all.” 

“Very true. I think that shit will get very interesting,” the pair found themselves on a small hillside overlooking an urban area. The Doctor pressed the button on the side of the sunglasses to see the energy fluctuations. “do we go underground?” 

“Yes we do. How did you know?” they walked down the little hill, went forward about 50 feet and turned onto a sidewalk. 

“All power, gas, sewer lines are underground in a metropolis, Doctor.” she implied it was common information which rankled the Doctor a little bit. Eva was wondering why the Doctor was so prickly lately; it was like he’d taken a step back in the relationship. Sometimes he was nice and sweet and other times he was a complete asshole. The medium couldn’t really tie it to their previous adventure which was him and an alien trundling inside her body in a microscopic capsule. Perhaps he’d realized just how fragile humans were or was it the embryo he’d suddenly started to loathe again? The possibilities were endless. Eva firmly decided not to think about it. 

It was a nice Easter Sunday; nobody was really around, cars were lined up in driveways as people got ready to celebrate the holiday with their loved ones. Eva felt particularly grateful that people were able to be around each other again after the long year previously. She smiled in seeing the people greeting each other, hugging, smiling, kids shouting. 

“Don’t start getting gooey on me,” the Doctor warned. “I know what you’re going to do.” 

“What?! I didn’t do anything.” she sounded a bit more angry than she meant to but the Doctor was infuriating at times. 

“Now is usually the time when I get regaled with tales about people I’ve never met and don’t care about. I don’t care about your background, Eva and I certainly don’t care about other people in your life.” he found a door set into the brickwork, buzzed it and it opened. 

“You don’t care about a lot of that stuff, I get it,” Eva pulled out a head lamp and put the elastic band around her head, turning the light on. “keep going on like that I’m going to think you don’t care about me.” 

“You got lucky, girl.” the Doctor started following the main power cables all the way down to a transformer box. Eva was reminded of Jurassic Park when Ellie went down into the power shed, dodging dinosaurs on the way. There were no dinosaurs but plenty of unknown, she thought the Sliders were watching them, calculating their every move. 

“As long as you don’t take me for granted I’ll be good.” another buzz, the door popped open and he began to read the information label on the transformer box. The Doctor aimed the screwdriver into the control interface mounted on the wall and began buzzing it, poking around to find something. Eva backed up a little bit, her senses triggered. 

“There’s a definite power surge here.” it felt like the hackles on the back of her neck went up. 

“What? How do you know?” he fumbled, picking up the screwdriver. 

“Part of being a medium, Doctor. I can sense when the electromagnetic fields get high. Something’s going to happen.,” the Doctor didn’t pay attention to her as he buzzed away. The medium looked down into the tunnel as he fussed with the circuit. In the half light of the utility lighting Eva could see figures starting to pop up as soon as he pressed the sonic screwdriver button. “um Doctor, I don’t think you should be doing that..” 

“What?!” 

The figures loomed closer, taking the shape of humans but black with eerie blue lights flashing through them. Wifi signals, Eva thought. It’s how they talked to each other. With each buzz of the sonic more of the figures popped up and began to zero in on Eva. She began backing up, intimidated by the size and appearance as the Doctor recklessly continued on. “Doctor, you need to stop doing that,” he ignored her until she shouted, “Doctor, STOP!” 

“What is it?!” he turned. “Can’t you see I’m fixing something!” 

“Not the time, Doctor! They’re zeroing in on me right now and you whine about being interrupted!” she kept backing up. “Literally the Sliders are right here, they want me, and you don’t give a shit!” the Doctor rolled his eyes while the Sliders fixated on Eva. The tension broke as the Doctor shut the transformer door, the Sliders gave chase, making Eva yelp and run away. The Doctor ran through the Sliders, grabbed Eva’s hand, then they hightailed it back they way they came. Bursting out of the door, the Doctor locked it but the Sliders slid right through the door as they ran for the TARDIS. 

“Come on, Eva!” the Doctor put his hand on the TARDIS but Eva felt fingertips on her shoulders and she was jerked away from him roughly, surrounded in a sea of Sliders. The medium turned pleading eyes on the Doctor, silently begging him to help her but he didn’t know what to do. “Eva!” 

The Sliders put their hands all over Eva, making her seize up in fright, looking around her at the sea of black figures with wifi signals running all through them. One of them turned from black to red, grabbed her around the waist and delivered an energy pulse, shocking her all over. The Doctor watched Eva’s face turn from frightened to pained, he heard the scream that she made as she was electrocuted, then saw her body fall to the ground. 

“Eva! NO!” he shouted. The Sliders turned to the Doctor, starting to swarm all around him but he was forced to open the door, slam it shut, leaving Eva behind. 

**

Inside the TARDIS the Doctor hyperventilated for a moment, thinking about what the creatures had done to Eva but he couldn’t dwell on it now. He pulled the dematerialization switch but the TARDIS tried once then stopped. The outside security camera showed the Doctor the Sliders had surrounded the TARDIS then they disappeared. He tried the switch again but the cloister bell sounded and the TARDIS stayed put. 

“They’ve infiltrated the TARDIS!” the Doctor grumbled. “Now it’s just a matter of time until they disable the life support system!” 

All the lights went out, the bell sounded again. It immediately got very cold in the console room so the Doctor sat down on the stairs near the heating vent he’d once put Eva underneath when she was suffering from hypothermia. “Eva.” he put his face in his hands, allowing the full weight of the situation to hit him. “There’s a slight chance she was just electrocuted enough to make her lose consciousness,” he argued with himself. “let’s not think the worst at once.” 

The Doctor looked up, hearing the Sliders infest the TARDIS with their energy sapping technology, knowing that it wouldn’t take long for them to completely drain the TARDIS, the life support system was going to fail in a few minutes, and Eva wasn’t there to offer comfort to him. “If Eva was here what would she do?” talking to himself made him feel less alone. “She’d tell me that it wasn’t my fault, things come on faster than we can respond sometimes.” 

“That doesn’t sound like Eva at all! The lack of air must be making me lightheaded already!” the Doctor groaned loudly. “The TARDIS’s electrical and wifi system is shot; there’s nothing I can do!” 

A few more minutes passed. The Doctor tried to open the doors but along with no power the Sliders had locked the door as well, trapping him inside. He went and sat down on the console room floor, trying to regulate his breathing but it was no use. Huddling into his jacket more, the Doctor’s breath condensed in the air as he exhaled. “The lightheadedness is getting worse,” he noted to himself. “Eva… I hope you’re… still alive…” his eyes closed and he slumped over on his side. 

Outside in the warm spring air Eva moaned, hoping that the Doctor was nearby and she would be able to get a little apology for how he treated her previously. The Doctor didn’t like seeing anyone in pain and with a little theatrical show for his benefit she might be able to get a little compassion from him. It had worked before and it should work now. 

Only it didn’t. The medium opened up one eye to see that she was completely alone. Sitting up she rubbed the back of her neck; a mild ache had set in from her awkward position on the ground. “What the hell happened?” 

Nobody could answer that one. Eva stood up, dusting off her knees and legs then checked herself over. “Maybe the Sliders took me out because they thought I was the biggest threat to them,” she theorized. “my dad did teach me about engineering so that might work? But-the TARDIS! He decided to wait for me!” Eva went over to the blue box, pulling on the door handles. “Why are they locked? I’m out here.” 

“Is he trying to teach me a lesson?” the medium wondered, rattling the lock. “Well, the Doctor may have his sonic screwdriver but I never leave home without my pocketknife,” Eva pulled out a Swiss army knife, selected a round pick then wiggled it into the lock cylinder. “thank my friends in high school for this.. I made a killing helping guys back into their cars after losing their keys!” she jimmied the lock, shoved the pick in the back and smacked it with her free hand. The lock popped open, Eva withdrew the little pick, snapped it back into the knife and put it in her pocket. 

“All right!” Eva entered the TARDIS, surprised to find it ice cold and the power was out. “Um, maybe not,” the doors snapped shut as she pulled a flashlight out from the console compartment and shined it around. “Doctor!” applying two fingers to his neck she found his hearts were still beating. “You’re still alive for the moment.. I assume the Sliders came into the TARDIS and drained it completely. It’s energy; there is a way around this. You must have been too lightheaded to figure it out.” Eva smirked; putting one over on the Doctor was a rare chance indeed. 

“OK, so what did my dad tell me when the Internet or electricity went out when I was growing up? He’d say,” Eva had to take a moment, the lightheadedness was starting to get to her as well. “when the electricity goes out it comes back but wifi… I know it’s there it just won’t come out!” Eva glared at the TARDIS like it was responsible for her predicament. 

“He said to me, ‘when the wifi signal is weak or flaky all I have to do is go to the router and reboot the system!’ Aha! Where’s the router?” Eva tried to remember what a failsafe or emergency shutdown button looked like but didn’t see one. 

“Come on!” she shut her eyes and faintly recalled a button that the Doctor told her that she must never push. It had been a large rectangular button which was under the console somewhere. Eva started checking the underside of the console, the lightheadedness becoming more pronounced. “Just like one of those transient computer viruses that don’t stay resident in the computer...” she felt around. “sometimes you reboot and the problem goes away!” Eva found the button and slammed it, holding it down and counting to three. “Action!” 

Nothing happened. “Sometimes it needs a few minutes for a systems restart,” she sat next to the Doctor, one arm hanging onto the banister as she leaned her head into it, trying to control her breathing which was coming in short exhalations as her lungs forced her to inhale air that wasn’t there. “hope… this … works..” she closed her eyes, trying to hang on. 

**

Life support kicked on first, a healing gust of air came up from the vent that the Doctor was near. He roused with the gust, inhaling, filling his lungs up then he started coughing. Opening up his eyes the Doctor could see that the TARDIS was starting to come alive again. “W-what?” the familiar startup noises were heard, the TARDIS’s lights were flickering as he sat up, gazed around dumbly for a moment, then saw Eva next to him. “Eva!” 

The Doctor stood up, checked the monitors then saw that all systems were normal. Everything had come on in startup mode. Inbetween his coughing, he saw that the readout flashed EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN ACTIVATED and NORMAL STARTUP MODE ON. “Only Eva could have been that clever! Daughter of an engineer indeed!” he knelt down beside his friend, applying two fingers to the pulse in her neck. “Heart’s too fast-easy symptom of oxygen deprivation, you’re about to pass out!” the Doctor maneuvered her to the air vent in the floor, lying her down so she got the full blast. “Give that a minute or two.” she was limp like a rag doll but the Doctor knew she was just too weak to respond to him. 

“But the real question is why did my lovely friend punch shutdown?!” the Doctor resumed talking to himself. “She knew the cardinal rule of electricity and wifi-when you get a bad signal or if your ISP goes down sometimes the router can’t pick up the signal again so you reset the system! Same is true with some computer viruses of old-a lot of them stay sentient in the computer RAM so they’ll be there whenever you start up the machine; some of them go away with a cold restart. I’m betting the Sliders are multidimensional because they have no choice! As soon as someone restarts their system they have to go to the next dimension and start all over again. Makes perfect sense!” 

Eva inhaled and started coughing weakly, alerting the Doctor that she was reviving so he went back over to her. Inside he was jumping up and down that Eva was still alive and had in fact saved the both of them. The Doctor flipped some switches, made the TARDIS leave earth, then watched Eva out of the corner of his eye. She stirred, opening up her eyes and looking up at him. 

“You’re back,” the Doctor acknowledged her. “I am glad to see you.” 

“Ugh,” she coughed, trying to stand up but didn’t quite make it. “shit..” 

“It’s only been a few minutes, the TARDIS startup is pretty fast,” he continued airily. “I think that the Sliders will be in someone else’s dimension by now creating havoc.” 

“Good god,” Eva launched herself up from the platform and stared at the Doctor. “I think you care more about your ship than you do me, Doctor. What’s with this icy demeanor all of a sudden?” 

“You’re delirious, it happens,” he brushed her off. “you got quite a shock out there, literally. Go on and rest in your bedroom, I’ll be there in a few minutes to examine you.” 

“Fine. It’s not worth my time to make you spill your guts to me.” she left the console room. The Doctor couldn’t pretend that her remark didn’t bother him but he pushed it to the side, punching information into the TARDIS. 

**

In her room Eva changed into her pajamas, some black polyester with pinstripes, took her makeup off and lay down on the bed. She picked up her phone and to her surprise she saw it was charging. The TARDIS ensured that she’d never need to charge her phone but with the Sliders draining the energy core it made sense. Eva theorized that the Sliders had come after her because she had an energy source in her pocket that they wanted which was her phone. Setting it on the bedside table Eva stretched out and closed her eyes, a little smile on her face as she felt a little nudge. Reaching down with one hand she gave her belly a little caress while the Doctor’s footsteps came closer. 

Let’s see if he’ll spill his guts while he thinks I’m asleep, she thought, closing her eyes. Maybe a little info on why he’d been so cold to her would help her understanding. The Doctor could usually tell if someone was fake sleeping but Eva was a talented actress when she wanted to be. 

“Eva? Aren’t you cold?” the Doctor came into the room, went to the foot of the bed and picked up the fleece blanket lying there. He spread it out, putting it over her legs right up to her belly. Sitting at the edge of the bed, the Doctor took Eva’s left wrist, noticing that her burn was still healing. The Doctor applied two fingers to her pulse, something Eva found strange. She’d suffered from oxygen deprivation, her heart hadn’t stopped so why was he taking her pulse? 

“Pulse is fine; I don’t think either one of you got any long lasting damage from the electrocution,” the Doctor spoke in a low voice. “I’m going to change the bandage here.” 

With the bandage changed, the Doctor threw away the wrappings and old bandage and with infinite care, he put her left arm back down beside her. The Doctor applied his ear to her chest to listen to her breathing for a long moment, making Eva wonder why he wasn’t using a stethoscope for that. When he was done listening the Doctor turned his head so he was looking at Eva, then he raised his head up a little bit. Something warm pressed down on her chest with a little smacking sound then she realized the Doctor had kissed her right over her heart. 

“They gave you quite a shock Eva and it was intended to be fatal but you had a little help in that department,” the Doctor brushed his hand over her belly. “there’s still a lot we don’t know about Titan embryos.” 

That made sense. The Doctor left the room so quietly Eva didn’t notice it at all. The events of the day had exhausted her so she went into a deep sleep soon after he left. 

A few hours later Eva was awakened by the Doctor swearing which meant he was working on the TARDIS yet again. The medium got up, put on her purple fleece robe, slid her feet into her clogs then went into the console room, raking her hair down with her fingers to try to look presentable. The Doctor was looking a little perturbed by the console, a faint acrid smoke smell came to her nose as he stood there, chucking a tool into his toolbag. He felt her eyes on him so he stood up and turned around to see her there. “Eva, you’re up. Did I wake you?” he noticed her looking at him with sleepy eyes. Jade the cat came out from where she’d been hiding and rubbed against her legs. 

“You did, Doctor. What’s going on?” she picked up the cat, watching as the Doctor fiddled with something. A little flash of inspiration hit her and she realized that the Doctor had been taking her pulse unnecessarily for a reason. Eva’s rhythmic heartbeat told him that she was all right which was reassurance that he needed on occasion; especially when she’d become sick or got hurt. The Doctor had become addicted to her heartbeat, Eva bit back a smirk. It sounded weird to her but it was sweet in a way. 

“Oh some repair work,” he studied her. “you should go back to bed, Eva.” 

“In a minute,” she took his hand, brushing her fingers over his pulse, then kissed him on the cheek. “don’t stay up too late.” the Doctor felt a little heat rising in his cheeks, a smile came across his lips as he watched Eva go back to her room. She had endured a lot in her time with him, he thought. But she never failed to show him affection even if he really didn’t want her to. 

If she wasn’t already a medium and already very much in tune with her lover’s ever changing moods the Doctor would have regarded her with suspicion. He was skeptical of mediums in general then Eva had come along. She was very perceptive with his moods and seemed to know exactly the right time to give him comfort as well. Sometimes all he needed was a kiss to remind him of his love for her. The Doctor pulled out his phone and looked at the picture of the embryo he’d taken. Eva had volunteered her body to help another race reproduce, a noble and selfless act and yet that bothered the Doctor. 

Clara, Bill and Nardole had committed those same acts and they were all dead. He couldn’t bear it if Eva joined their ranks and she’d had close calls already. But at the same time the embryo she was carrying negated the effects of a fatal electrocution. Eva had told him sometimes you couldn’t tell which way luck would run and now he believed it. 

She had known that he was distant that day but all she needed to do to soothe him was to return the gesture of affection she’d given him; check his pulse and give him a kiss. She was very clever and intuitive. 

On impulse the Doctor went into the bedroom, got ready for bed then curled himself around Eva, giving her neck a kiss. He of all people knew that time was precious and he needed to make the most of it. The medium did not stir but he knew that she wouldn’t care if he got a little frisky if she was asleep. It tended to give her some raunchy dreams, he knew that for a start. 

The Doctor unbuttoned Eva’s shirt, necking her shamelessly, making her stir awake. “Doctor, what?”

“Shh!” he wasn’t done with her yet. 

“Lift up that head.” she directed, meeting his kiss. The Doctor put his hands under her jawline, framing her face as they both submitted to the moment..


End file.
